


A Hidden Kindness - Waluigi & Rosalina

by Magaritas



Series: The Discoveries Trilogy [1]
Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 08:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16302014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magaritas/pseuds/Magaritas
Summary: Shortly after a jewel heist in the Mushroom Kingdom, the eight criminals and conspirators to the many felonies had been caught and imprisoned by the rulers of the Mushroom Kingdom. As a result, Princess Peach had invited Daisy of Sarasaland and Rosalina of the Cosmos to join, review and determine the sentences for each of the fugitives.However, one criminal unexpectedly caught the eye of Princess Rosalina - the only person who had ever discovered his hidden kindness.





	1. Chapter 1

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The clock struck 2 a.m. in the Mushroom Kingdom. At this moment, the ticks on the clocks could be heard very clearly around the villages as the minute hand slowly slid into position. The night was at its darkest, the full moon clearly visible in the cloudless sky surrounded with a plethora of stars. The moon's light reflected a trail on the bodies of water surrounding the kingdom walls. The guards set off their posts, moving away from the hall and towards the kingdom in precise, uniform movements. The new guards began to make their way in, the step of each guard was synchronized with every other one. However, this night there was a surprise awaiting the kingdom during this change.

The Mushroom Kingdom was always very well protected from outsiders around the kingdom walls that surrounded the villages abroad the plains. There were several guards around the perimeter of the walls at all times in the kingdom to avoid any more theft incidents later on. We will get back to this in a few moments.

During the transition, that usually goes very smooth and seamless, though smoke came out from the skies, unlikely on a night as clear as this one. The guards were nearly blinded, as if they were looking through a blanket. That's when the posse of criminals began to move. Kamek, the old, yet powerful and apparent advisor to Bowser, flew over to the top of the wall, where he set his broom over the edge, pulling Waluigi up to the top as well. Waluigi is a sly criminal, playing many pranks and different schemes on the citizens. He is usually ruthless and gets what he wants for sure. Back to the scene: he was conveniently tall, so with a couple of the other criminals giving him a boost, he was able to reach the broomstick and grab hold of the wall securely. It was now Wario's turn to make his way up. He is Waluigi's brother, usually taking charge. He is in it for the money since he is plump and greedy. Wario then jumped and took hold of Waluigi's ankles, making some sort of a human ladder for the rest of the fugitives to make their way up. Next was Bowser, the leader of this large arrangement of criminals. He had kidnapped Princess Peach, heir to throne in the Mushroom Kingdom, several times as well hoping to find his children a mother. He is usually the head of many heists such as the one about to be performed. He began climbing first, with a large backpack and a smoke-bomb between his teeth ready to throw. Once he was on the wall, he launched the smoke bomb towards the guards, once again making a heavy smoke to keep the group from being seen.

Afterwards, Ashley, an all powerful yet young witch, makes her way up smoothly and swiftly. She, like Bowser, had thrown another smoke bomb to assure the smoke around them stayed as opaque as possible. The gang had planned to throw the bombs well away from themselves and towards the guards so they still had some sort of vision. Last is Bowser Jr., Bowser's first and most devious son, to climb up the human ladder. The last 2 members of the gang, being Koopa Paratroopa and King Boo had drifted up. The two of them are well known criminals, known most for doing the crimes and simply drifting away, King Boo going through the walls as well. The gang then helped pull Waluigi, then Wario, up the wall. All of them were there, now in perfect alignment ready to strike. 

It had been months since they could enter the Mushroom Kingdom after all fleeing at different times. They all met up and spent several months devising the perfect and flawless plan. It all began with King Boo making his way into the kingdom every now and then to memorize every single security pattern, passcode, and lock combinations to get into the Jewel Chamber. That is where the crew was heading. No more princesses or pure coins, they wanted to go to the one place where no-one had ever even attempted to go near before.

The crew had jumped off the wall and dove into the calm, glassy river at the bottom of the wall. Their masks and tanks then came to use at this moment. They had to move in long and calm movements under the river, as violent paddling would lead to waves being visible to the guards. The waters barely moved in the evening, the water warm as blood. They were unnoticeable as the fog started to calm itself and the night became clear once again. For 8 minutes straight, they swam down the stream all together in unison until they reached the sidelines of the castle itself. There they would find a small-circular window leading to the main hall. Since the guards were by the front yard areas, the team could easily drill a hole in the window and pop out the glass. Kamek and Ashley slid through the window and then had access to the interior of the magnificent castle. There were large glass windows, clearly sealed too tightly and heavily to be opened effectively. The floor had a polished marble finish and the walls were ever so clean. Ashley and Kamek were led by King Boo, who showed them to the back access entrance of the castle. They were able to allow the rest of the felons into the castle and head to the Jewel Chamber.

They all proceed to the fourth hallway in the West Wing. They line up against the walls, and King Boo stealthily makes his way through the red velvety walls of the hall and into the the room where the vault was. He was able to possess the guard there successfully. It was the first time he had possessed someone in the months he had been in hiding outside of the walls with the others. He was able to locate the key card in the guard's pocket and insert it into the keypad next to the towering doors to the Jewel Chamber. He had pressed in the code numbers into the gel-like buttons on the keypad. "4-3-8-0" he put in. He had snapped the guard's fingers twice, signaling the others to come to the vault. All 8 of them had worked together to pull the towering wheel to the vault down and around. They were then let into the vault and were embraced with the flow of diamonds glistening in the stage-like lights glistening from above. There were diamonds, pearls, emeralds, anything you could imagine in the vault.

The felons had finally ran in filling their bags to the brim with all of the goods. Wario then sees a cage area towards the back area, which they were all unfamiliar with. He crept towards it and saw bags upon bags of coins, most likely the royal heir's money in storage. He leaned towards the cage and reached his arm through, nearly touching the bags. Seconds after, the warm lights coming from above turn into flashing and beaming red lights, emitting a moderately pitched noise, getting louder around every 15 seconds. The scandalous group ran out as quickly as possible, not running into any guards on the way. They had run out the red hallway, through the West Wing, into the Grand Hall. The lights began to go off there, allowing every crystal in the chandeliers to glisten in a ruby red glow. They exited the kingdom walls through the back areas, dashing through the well-maintained gardens, flowers on the ground in front of them. They continue forth until Kamek flies his broom upwards back to the roof areas to repeat the same procedures as before. Once he is about to make his landing, a bright ball of light, ice, and gases shoot towards him and he falls. The ball, then identified as a comet, was filled with a sweet-smelling substance in many bright colors. Many guards come to the scene afterwards and restrain all of the delinquents and bring them to prison. 

The group is separated into two cells. The first one contained Wario, Bowser, Koopa Paratroopa, and King Boo. The walls were unable to be broken, and especially had special barriers and walls on all four sides to prevent King Boo from phasing through the beveled cobblestone bricks around the dungeon. The others, being Waluigi, Bowser Jr., Ashley, and Kamek were placed in a normal cell with bars on the cell. Kamek's broom and spellbook were clearly confiscated, and so was Ashley's wand..

"Well well well," a somewhat high pitch voice. The prisoners begin hearing the click clack of a woman's footsteps as she approached the cells where the prisoners were contained. "What do we have here tonight? Seems like the house is full."

"You bet you're right Princess" Wario exclaims with his raspy and somewhat masculine voice. He proceeds towards one of the beds where a mirror was, flexing his muscles and making faces like a maniac.

"So what happened tonight that gave us eight new prisoners, exactly?" The woman continues. She continues walking, her pink gown flowing behind her in a perfectly co-ordinated trail, her posture high, her hands folded behind her. Around a minute passes by, and she once again mentions her question. "What happened tonight that gave us several new prisoners, exactly?" she questioned, in a more demanding tone.

"Well you see, Peachy," Ashley finally exclaims after moments of silence. She begins hitting a rubber ball on the ground, which then hit the wall and ricochetted back to her palms. She continued this as she continued her statement. "We were doing our normal routines, being good people, and the guards came after us!" She finishes in a sarcastic tone.

"Really now?" Princess Peach questions.

"Fine fine." Bowser chimes in. "We were going to try and borrow a few-"

"Borrow? A few?" Peach interrupts. "You see, if you mobsters were attempting to devise an immaculate plan to steal, or borrow, bags of jewels, I doubt you would give them back at this rate. As the guards have evaluated, all eight of you have committed one of the felonies around 4 months ago. All eight of you caused rage throughout the villages for days." The princess in pink began to raise her voice with each statement. "All eight of you caused our citizens, our people, our guards, to go homeless, walk shamefully, lose loved ones. All eight of you-" Another princess, wearing an orange gown, similar to Peach's, approaches in a concerned manner.

"Alright Peachy, let's settle down." Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, a close cousin of Peach, had run over to calm the impassioned princess and gently takes hold of her shoulders. "They're not worth our time. I contacted a friend of mine to help us address the manner. It will be over soon and the interpretations will be sent in as soon as possible." Daisy began to lead Peach down the long hall of dungeons.

Peach continued yelling phrases, "What an outrage! I don't understand why such fiends would do such acts of intolerance to the Mushroom Kingdom! I demand justice!" The talking fades out as the loud smack of the door to the dungeon hallway is heard from the prisoners. The night arrives and the princesses go to sleep, relieved that the kingdom is now secure.


	2. Chapter 2

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It is 2:34 a.m., the princesses are drained, except for one special one.

Princess Rosalina was one of the different princesses. She had a different physical appearance, her platinum hair covering one of her eyes. Most others envied her natural beauty and composure, she was unusually taller and lean as well. Most people had heard many stories about her, and vice versa. The only humans she had seen or spoken to were Mario, Luigi, and Peach during their adventures through the cosmos. Rosalina had never spoken to humans since then, and has always longed to return back to the Blue Planet after hundreds of years.

The princess walks out of her bedroom dome to be greeted by several Lumas, which basically are star-like creatures that have a rain drop kind of composure and come in many colors as well. She walks across her starship with poise and elegance towards the central power area. There, she is able to power her machine and guide her starship towards the Blue Planet, which we know as Earth. 

The cosmic beauty had awaited their arrival for a bit more than two weeks. Since their departure had began approximately 16 days before the heist, it had only been convenient for Daisy to invite her to the Mushroom Kingdom and prepare for her arrival. Then she had contacted Rosalina once again, notifying her of the issues that occurred this day and proposing the idea of having her be the third person in the panel for criminal interpretations.

The next morning, the three princesses, dressed in a relatively darker attire, walked in perfect formation. Peach was wearing a darkened magenta high-low gown that trailed behind her. It had black ruffles and black lace upon the long medieval type sleeves. She wore black wedges and a matching hairpiece with gold accents. Daisy followed behind her, wearing the same dress though with an orange tone rather than pink. Rosalina was last in line, and she was clearly taller compared to the other princesses. She wore a deep lapis gown, it was tight on the bodess and waist, though it dramatically flowed on the bottom, and slightly touched the ground. The dress was mainly opaque, though was finished with a sheer cloth on the skirt, fastened at the waist with a subtle silver lining.

The princesses continued down the long hall of dungeons with Toadsworth leading them. They approached the first dungeon of prisoners. Toad had forcefully stricken the bars as a rude awakening to for the prisoners with both the morning sun and their sentences to justice. Toadsworth had looked down at his clipboard and flipped through a few pages. He clears his throat and begins. "Time for attendance, you thieves,"He recites in a somewhat agitated tone. He turns behind him to the princesses that were patiently waiting near him for his direction. "Please proceed to the conference rooms as I deal with this." The three turn and walk away, still in their formation. "First here, we have Koopa Paratroopa. Are you present?"

After waiting for a solid fifteen minutes, the first fugitive had been escorted by guards into the somewhat small room. It was far away from the other areas in the castle, and was more sophisticated as well. The princesses patiently waited for the guards to escort the first convict, being Koopa Paratroopa, to the seats awaiting the meeting table. Princess Peach spoke the first words. "Alright, Sir. What did you have to do with the jewel heist in the kingdom late last night?"

"What jewel heist? I didn't see any jewels in the dungeon!" Was the reply.

"Stop it with the games. What exactly did you have to do with the jewel heist last night?" Daisy chirps in.

"Fine fine," the Koopa confesses, and the princesses begin writing on the sheets of paper laid out on the table. "After everyone the crew had each done their 'lil crimes here and there, we planned out a bit of a plan in ol' Wario's gold mines. Last night we wanted to strike but ya know, it ain't gone as planned. I just helped out the crew go up the and got the cash, Wario asked me to because there was a cool prize at the end, but I didn't know this place here would be it."

"How exactly were you all able to have a planned that had worked effectively until the alarm systems were triggered?" Daisy interrogates.

"Let me tell you, we have our ol' pal King Boo here, he told us it all: the entrances, the escape routes, the guards, everything. We just went by the plans ya know." The princesses nodded and dismissed the criminal as they discussed a sentence.

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"We were so close." King Boo states, nearly heartbroken that the plan was foiled. "If it weren't for... Wait, who did set off that alarm?"

"Beats me." Ashley responds.

"Don't know." Kamek replies.

"Wario?" Waluigi challenges his brother. "I know you wanted those coins towards the west area of the chamber.

"Excuse me?" Wario breaks from his once-again flexing position and marches towards the wall consecutive to the other cell. "I wanted what?" He inquires, in a stern tone.

"You heard me right. I saw you going for those coins and you can't deny it." Waluigi leans against one of the walls in the dungeon and slides down. "If it weren't you forcing me into this plan I would have been sleeping instead of thinking about what to tell the girls."

"At least we get to see some hot babes visiting us in the dungeon! Am I ri-" Wario is interrupted.

"Wario? Were you born tomorrow?" Bowser inquires. "We specifically said, the cage in the back of the vault was off limits. How come you even step foot near it? It was all in the plan and it was going perfectly until-"

"Hold up." Wario continues. "Let's just think about how much more threatening we will be. All of the fame. All of the publicity. We will get our sentences tonight to clear this up and when we are set free, we will bask in our glory for completing one of the hardest ever tasks ever performed in the kingdom. How does that sound?"

"You mean for almost completing?" Waluigi chatted.

"Pfft. Same thing." Wario countered.

"I guess that could be cool," Bowser Jr. muttered. He hadn't spoken the whole time out of fear that the words emerging from his lips would disappoint his father as they had done before.

"What was that, Junior?" His father replies.

"Nothing, Dad." Bowser Jr. turned around facing the corner of the dungeon.

"Either way, we didn't get the cash or jewels, months of training were thrown away. All because of one imbecile that had to ruin absolutely EVERYTHING." Bowser insulted Wario. Toadsworth returns back to the dungeons and once again flips through his clipboard.

"Last here we have, uh, Waluigi," he announces.

"WAH!" Waluigi yelps. "This is all Wario's fault." Toadsworth escorts him out of the dungeon and to the conference room.

Peach begins the normal procedures. "What exactly did you have to do with this plan? What brought you into it?"

"Basically, you see, I was just in it because of my brother Wario. I took the money, ran out, and I'm here." He stated in a timid tone, "So much for that idea."

"Do you have any idea how much damage you and your friends caused?" Daisy snapped.

"Nope, didn't break anything," the criminal in purple zapped back.

"You all have just exploited our security systems and brought our kingdom to shame!" Peach chimed in. "At this point, Bowser's Castle is safer than our train wreck of a kingdom all because of your stupid little-"

"Alright, Peach. Time to settle down." Rosalina looked up for a moment and examined Waluigi.

"What 'chu lookin' at, girlie?" Waluigi crosses his arms in disgust, staring at the curious princess.

"Excuse me." Rosalina replied apologetically. 

"You're excused little lady." The shady criminal lowers his cap and begins to tap his thumbs against each other. "Are we all done here?"

"Not quite yet." Daisy notified. "We have a couple more things to go over with you."

"If you're talking about our little thing going on, it's over hun. I know how much you want me back but you've gotta let it go honey buns" Waluigi flirts.

"Don't start, mister." Daisy rolled her eyes and sighed in antipathy. 

"She's right." Rosalina adds in her moderately pitched monotone voice. "We don't need your games, as we are determining your sentence in the dungeon. If I were you, I'd suggest co-operating, or you shall face more intense consequences."

"Alright alright girlie! No need to ramble off, but Im tellin' ya, I did nothin'!" Waluigi finishes. The guards take him back to the dungeons and the princesses discuss the felon's sentence.

"That sleazy jerk is no good. I'd keep him there for life if I could!" Daisy cries. "He's always up to trouble and look at what he's gone into now!" Daisy digs her face into her palms.

"However, he did claim his brother forced him into this." Rosalina adds. "What if he was innocent? After all, there were no traces or evidence of him doing anything rather than just taking jewels and escaping the heist. We should look into this one."

"Rosie has a point, Daisy, but I hate to say that it has some flaws. He could have been just lying about his claims and maybe he brought Wario into this instead." Peach protests.

"I doubt it." Daisy argues. "I know this guy, he wouldn't stoop that low to take his brother down with him. That's a Wario kind of move."

"So will his sentence be lower?" Rosalina asks the others.

"I suppose so, but keep investigating, I don't want to make a mistake." Peach rises from the desk and begins walking out with poise.

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"Hey Walu, word's going 'round that you and Daisy are still a thing, she reduced your sentence!" Wario teases.

"Daisy's a fiesty one indeed, but she's a keeper for sure. Any royalty is." Kamek giggles. "If you had chances with her, then you'd-"

"Enough, geez." Waluigi stops the others and paces the dungeon. "I know I pleaded innocent and all that mumbo jumbo, but how come they put my sentence lower and none of yours?"

"Mine probably would've been lower but I was charged for breaking an entry, vandalism, violence, illegal possession- not to mention how that is ridiculous, the list goes on." King Boo broadcasted.

"If it weren't for them stealing my wand I would have busted out of here by now!" Ashley pouts as she stomps her left foot and crosses her arms.

"Alright sweetie, sorry for your little temper tantrum here, but let's now talk about how my sentence was only higher because I have a kingdom in the forests!" Bowser declared.

"Hate to break it to you, fatty, but newsflash: building a castle illegally within the Mushroom Kingdom walls isn't allowed." Ashley corrected. 

"I'm King Koopa for a reason, you know."

"King of what? The garbage tossed out of the Mushroom Kingdom and into your so-called 'castle'?" At this moment, all eight prisoners had bursted into arguments, everyone screaming, pouting, correcting, and repeating. The dungeons had been pure chaos until Toadsworth stood in the dungeon hall screaming the word STOP at the top of his lungs until he got the attention of the prisoners.

"What in the heavens is going on in here?" Toad interrogates.

"HE started it!" Ashley yelps pointing at the King Koopa.

"You're the one who started whining and throwing a tantrum here." Bowser thundered back. Toadsworth then made the wise decision to put each of the prisoners in separate cells to avoid further fighting. The sun sets, the full moon arises from its slumber, enlightening the kingdom, and shining through the small, yet manageable, windows of each dungeon. The door to the dungeon hall opens slightly, and a tall, hooded figure in the shadows makes its way through the door. By this time, most people in the castle were asleep, except for one prisoner and one unexpected visitor.

"Is anyone awake at this moment?" The figure speaks.

"Is that you, girly? It's been a while since we talked."


	3. Chapter 3

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"If you believe my name is girlie," the hooded figure spoke, quietly, "Then you are mistaken."

"Whatever, lady. Are ya the princess or aren't ya?" Waluigi rose from his seat and peered through the bars to reveal the cosmic princess, unveiling her hood with the moonlight glistening subtly upon her. "What is a Princess like you doing in the dungeons in this hour? Wah."

"Quiet, the others don't know I'm in here." She whispered.

"Ah, a rule breaker we have in here. Anyways, why are you down here?" Waluigi commented.

"I'm not necessarily a rule breaker. I came here out of curiosity. My sleeping schedule is just, different I suppose." Rosalina walks towards Waluigi's dungeon nearly silently and she sits on the bench against the wall on the other side of the hallway. "I have come to further understand your motives."

"Eh? My motives. I just do what I wanna do. You can't stop me. I just like to create trouble, and that's it."

"I believe there is more. You shouldn't hide your problems and maybe solve them for a change."

"I don't believe it."

"Stop lying to yourself. It will do you no good from here on."

"Why are ya interrogating me, leave me be." The criminal in purple crosses his arms as the princess rises from her seat. "If you want to know about me, why don't you tell me about you for once. I know nothing."

The princess was in shock. She had never before been asked to state her story, what went on before her adventures with Mario and Luigi. "My story is the least of anyone's importance at the moment. You would not need to know about it. This is concerning you as of now."

"Don't sell yourself short, girlie." 

"What do you do in here? It must get quite lonely after some time of being secluded." She straightened out her head and centered her weight.

"Nothing much, I still want to know why you're talking to me of all people now though."

"I just wanted to see what I've gotten myself into."

"Pardon?" Waluigi stands and meets Rosalina's eyes with his hands on his hips, being skeptical of her doings. "Wah, what do you mean?"

"I was the one who decided to reduce your sentence due to your claims. They were, well, different from the others, I suppose I could say. I am just determining whether this was the correct decision for me."

"Look here, girlie," The man in purple gently brings his gloved forward and rests them on two consecutive bars. "Thanks for that. Ya won't regret it. I might be a nuisance to them other princesses there, but trust me, they ain't knowing what I gotta say."

"Uhh, Rosalina? Are you in here? It's after dark and the others are asleep." Toadsworth had entered the dungeon hall searching for the princess. "Where else would you be? Oh dear, oh dear, where is she?"

"He knows I'm here, I shouldn't be talking to the prisoners. Pretend you're asleep." The princess whispered to him and slowly crept away as the tall man followed her instructions and went to the bed in the corner of his cell. The princess crept out to meet Toadsworth near the dungeon door. "Sorry, I was looking for the kitchen to get myself some starbits but got lost. My apologies."

"That's alright, just don't go in the dungeon again, without me at least. Those criminals are nothing but trouble! Let me take you back to your room." Toadsworth accompanied Rosalina and escorted her back to her bedroom. It was around 1:45am, the princess laid on her bed, peering through the sky window above her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about the prisoner in purple. She couldn't stop thinking about the unusual feeling she got while talking to him. She felt somewhat nervous at the very moment he stared into her icy blue eyes, so blue you could almost see right through them. She feared someone would catch her talking to him. She was learning more about what he thinks, about a different perspective from an unusual person on the planet. The princess pondered for the night until her eyes rested themselves and she fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, it was around 4:30am and the delinquent was still not asleep. He had stayed up thinking about the princess, whether he should have given her that attitude, whether he made the right impression. For once he actually had a shred of care for someone other than himself, even though he had expressed it in the most sarcastic way possible.

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"What a nice visitor we have here." Wario acknowledges and whistles.

"Well well well, she's quite foxy if I say so myself." Bowser adds in.

"I am not getting into interpersonal relationships as of now, if that is what you are intending, sir." Rosalina counters as she walks down the hall of dungeons, mid day in the kingdom.

"That is not how you are allowed to speak to royalty!" Bowser screeches as he violently attempts to unlock the doors of the dungeon containing him. Rosalina pulls her wand out of her sleeve and waves it in a somewhat elliptical motion, causing Bowser to rise into the air, squirming to get his body out of this magical grasp. "No Koopa was EVER meant to fly! Leave me go!"

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" Koopa Paratroopa insisted.

"You're not a real Koopa, get out of my fight now!" And after this comment, the prisoners all bursted, once again, into a loud and monstrous argument. Without anyone's notice, the princess silently makes her way to Waluigi's cell with a small and rusted silver key and she unlocks it. They quietly walk out the hall, Rosalina grasping Waluigi's wrist, leading him out to the throne room. The room was a polished room with white walls with cream colored marble tiles and eight large pillars towards the left and right walls. There were two golden thrones towards the end of the red carpeted path with the golden twilight of sunset glistening onto the two perfectly placed seats of royalty. Seated there were Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, waiting patiently for Toadsworth to present Princess Rosalina and Waluigi. 

"Good afternoon, Waluigi." Peach snarls in an extremely unforgiving tone. She was disgusted by the pest and did not wish to work with him, yet she was forced to deal with him and the seven other criminals. Rosalina proceeds forward as Toadsworth handcuffs Waluigi and keeps a keen eye on him. The cosmic princess travels to the thrones a few feet forward and turns to face the criminal. "I suppose you know why we called you here?" The princess states, trying to hide the repulse within her.

"Eh, I don't actually, princess. Hate to burst your bubble there." Waluigi replies.

"Well if you paid attention this morning, you would have known that we would call the prisoners once at a time to discuss etiquette in the cells. You all clearly do not understand the concept."

"Why me first all of a sudden?"

"Like before, if you paid attention, then you would have realized that Toadsworth called each of the criminals to come here. You're the sixth."

"Sorry princess! I was too busy counting the days 'till my sentence is up! Only 28 days to go now! Can't believe its only been 3 days! Life's a party am I right?"

"Alright let's not get ahead of ourselves now." Daisy suggested. She had once had a relationship with Waluigi, and it did not necessarily go as planned. This princess, alike to Peach, had also been disgusted by the criminal and wanted nothing to do with them; Yet, there they were. "First off, you all have a curfew now. I am sick and tired of being awakened hour after hour due to all of your yapping in the dungeon."

"What if I'm sick and tired of your yapping about my sleep time, princess?" Waluigi snaps.

"Waluigi, I do not suppose it is a wise idea to talk to royalty in that manner. Apologize." Rosalina suggested.

"It's fine, Rosalina. Thanks for the help but what he's done is unforgivable." Daisy responds, pondering about their past as she slouches on her throne, placing her elbow on the side of the seat as she rests her head on her palm.

"Oh man, don't bring up our second date, Daisy! I'm over it. Absolutely zero feelings. None, nada, zilch, no-" Waluigi is interrupted by Princess Peach.

"Settle down. Now. We must stay on the topic at hand." Peach stated sternly. "Your newly set curfew will be at 10pm sharp. After that time, you must remain quiet or there will be consequences. We expect you to be asleep to avoid commotion."

"So what you're saying is that we can't disturb your beauty sleep so you're making new rules?" Waluigi pitches in and looks down, chuckling.

"Be quiet, do not speak unless told to. And look up while we are talking to you." Rosalina commands. The conversation with constant opinions coming from Waluigi continued for several minutes, and each other criminal came in until they were all back. The sun went down, and the moon had risen, once again gleaming through the small window in the dungeon hallway. It was 10:15, and Waluigi was still not asleep. Whispers were exchanged throughout the cells, but Waluigi was silent, observing his cell as he got a piece of chalk and tallied a third line on the wall of the cell. Surrounded by four cobblestone walls, there was nothing else to do but stare at them, to look at the paint that had started to chip off as time passed, or gouged by other prisoners, doing anything to pass time, slowly going mad, theorizing absurd meanings from the wall's blank stare. 

Suddenly, his attention was taken away from the Princess who, once again, visited him in search of more information about him. "Explain yourself," she spoke as she turned around, viewing the prisoner in his cell.

"Explain what, girlie?" He looked up as her eyes fluttered open, revealing icy blues that were framed with thick long lashes. It pierced right through him, those cold eyes of her. He was extremely nervous, as he did not know how intimidating her eyes could be. She starred at him, as if she pierced into his soul.

"Explain your attitude earlier today." She crossed her arms as she gave him a more daunting look, she was determined into getting every ounce of information from him possible, she wanted to know about the criminal in order to truly understand what instinct inside her enabled her to shortening the man's prison sentence.

"Sorry if I'm not asleep yet, princess. I have a little problem with that new curfew rule." Waluigi sits up and looks at the princess while remaining seated on his bed. "And you're not asleep either. Why is that, little lady?"

"We didn't have day and night in my observatory. Mainly just the stars shining through the galaxies. I didn't sleep much as I was tending to my lumas' needs. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering, girlie."

"Stop calling me that!" Rosalina chuckled. "Why are you awake at this hour, anyways?"

"Its a medical thing. Insomnia's the name. I don't get much sleep at all." He pondered over his struggles with the condition. Night after night, eleven o'clock morphs into twelve and then one. The time trickles by, marked only by the glossy black hand on the clocks that drifts from tick to tick every sixty. His mind every night would be blank; where there should be dreams is a heavy blackness. His eyes would be as stationary as the silhouette of the cell bars positioned on the other side of his room. When the sallow glow of the moonlight behind the window bars becomes white, he knows his night is over. He would close his eyes and they almost sting, open too long probably. He sits up and views the princess, without another word.

"How does one attain this insomnia? Shall I contact a nurse?" The princess inquires.

"Born with it. It happens but I don't worry about it."

"Alright." Rosalina goes close to the dungeon, tilting her head. A scream is heard from an upper floor, and the yelling gets louder and louder, making the speaker stand out more to the people on the lower levels of the kingdom. It was Princess Daisy, screaming for whatever reason that wasn't relevant. Waluigi's smirk turned into a frown as he looked down and turned away slightly from Rosalina's view. "What is wrong? You seem upset." Rosalina claims.

Waluigi sighed. "That lady Daisy there, we had a bit of romance but it was always about her. All the time, nonstop. Whenever I talked about me, it was a problem. Wah, what am I sayin'." He crosses his arms, leaving the princess' face flushed in red. "She never understood me. No one understands Waluigi. Wah!"

"Who said I didn't?"

"What cha sayin' princess?"

"I believe you have a different side of the situations. You're definitely not like the others." Rosalina turns and begins walking. "Until tomorrow."

"For sure, girlie." Waluigi nodded. Several hours of longing for the sunshine to gleam through the barred windows awaited him.

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	4. Chapter 4

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The daylight has risen, Waluigi closing his eyes in attempt to gain some sort of rest to refresh his energy supply for the long day. It was about Nine in the morning, and Toadsworth ran into the dungeons with a long, brown silk coat. He held it up and screeched at the top of his lungs."WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!" He exclaimed, awakening the prisoners from their slumber.

"What's that, buddy?" Ashley stands up and pokes her head through the bars on her cell. "A blanket?"

"Erm, no, Ashley. This is a cloak I found in the flower pot next to the dungeon entrance. Explain yourselves." Toadsworth began to stroke his mustache and further observed the broken down and deteriorated cloth. It was a matter of time before-

"I know!" The plump criminal named Wario stands up and reaches his arms through the steel bars of the cell to snatch the cloak from Toad's hands. "Its... tall, I see. Hmmm, it also looks skinny! I say its Waluigi!" The purple clad jumps into attention. "I bet Walu here escapes in the night. See ya guys, I'm more observant that you think. Do I get some coins now?" Wario stares in pure greed at the toad, who was, once again, stroking his mustache.

"He does have a point." Toadsworth turns to face Waluigi, who then was contemplating ideas to counter Wario's claim. "Well?" Toadsworth stares into the abyss of Waluigi's hazel eyes. "You should tell me now before I tell the princesses!"

"Toad is quite the taddle tale, Walu, so ya better spit it out!" Wario snaps with a devilish look arising from his evil eyes. Waluigi sighs with the lack of words being emitted from his mouth. The silence from him was ear splitting as he had nothing to say. He knew for sure it was Rosalina's and she did not wear it with her at all times. He was afraid that the princess would have had consequences if Toadsworth had found out of her visiting the prisoner every night. Waluigi looks down and turns slightly away from Toad. "Guilt, eh?" Wario shatters the silence as the rest of the criminals begin to shift their attention towards the scene. "I know that look of yours, ya have guilt in ya." Wario was, in fact, correct. All eyes were on Waluigi at this moment as he was quickly considering different responses.

Waluigi sighs as he looks at the toad with a straight, yet annoyed, face. "It belongs to me, I escaped last night and hid the evidence." With another sigh, Waluigi turned his back to the others and sat peacefully on his bed on the opposing side of the cell.

"You're coming with me, Mister!" Toadsworth begins to take out a pair of silver hand cuffs, ready to capture the criminal's wrists as soon as he came through the rusted bars of the cell. Toadsworth opened the cell door with a glistening key and led Waluigi through a labyrinth of hallways and back, once again, to the throne room to be greeted by the three princesses. All wearing their signature clothes, they watched every move that the prisoner and Toadsworth made, walking up the red, lace-embroidered line of carpet up the hall. "I have found this cloak near a prison cell, and Waluigi has confessed that he escaped numerous times and this belongs to him. Any comments?" Toadsworth speaks.

"You must be mistaken, that cloak belongs to me, a toad may have dropped it with the rest of the laundry. As for Waluigi escaping, I doubt it since our amazing security wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, otherwise, the staff must be looked over again." Rosalina inquires, leaving everyone else in the hall in shock of her eloquent statement.

"Will do, princess! Let's go, Waluigi." Toadsworth swiftly brings the prisoner back into his cell, and still in awe, he slumps onto the floor of the filthy cage and marks another tally on the walls on his cell. This marks the fourth evening of his sentence, only 27 days left. The prison hallway doors open later on, the moon is already risen and the other prisoners are asleep. Toadsworth had walked in Rosalina as they conversed while walking down.

"Why'd you bring me down here?" Toadsworth asks Rosalina.

"I must confess my wrongdoings. I have been visiting the criminals nearly every night. I must say, it is quite entertaining." Their walking comes to a halt and Toadsworth turns to Rosalina, crossing his arms.

"How is that?" Toad asks.

"I am viewing a different perspective of the crimes in this world. It is quite interesting as you wouldn't expect what you hear from them."

"Well princess, haven't any of them shown enough aggression to draw you away from them?" 

"Not necessarily, they have shown somewhat of a soft side. The bars keep them from attacking or fighting back, not that they attempted, however. May I have permission to continue visiting them?"

"Absolutely not!" Toadsworth pauses. "Not without these at least!" He hands her a small bottle of pepper spray, most likely to use if the criminal becomes aggressive or attacks. He also hands her a torch extremely carefully and safely. The princess nods and curtsies as she is about to continue down the hall. "Hey." Toadsworth taps her back and she turns carefully. "Stay safe, please. I'm in charge of keeping you safe, but I must take care of other things. Be careful with these guys." The two part and continue their separate ways, and Rosalina finally reaches Waluigi's cell.

"May I ask," Rosalina begins, "Why did you claim you escaped the cells? It was my cloak, after all."

"Like I said before, girlie, I like making trouble. There's no stopping that." Waluigi snaps back.

"But do you like staying cramped in a cell all day listening to your friends instigating a new fight every twenty minutes?" Waluigi nodded his head from side to side. "I thought so. Why did you say that to Toadsworth? Your sentence could have been extended if you had gone through with this. Do you understand? And look up at me when I speak to you." She began pacing, contemplating different reasons why Waluigi would do such a thing.

"Fine oh fine, I just didn't want you to get in any trouble for sneaking down here." Waluigi murmurs after several moments of silence. Rosalina's pacing came to a halt as she thought about the words that had just crawled from Waluigi's mouth. "Hey girlie? Are you still awake?"

"Yes yes, I am, uhm, fine." Rosalina thought about how no one had ever done such a deed, risking their own well being and benefits for hers.

"What's wrong, princess?" He inquires.

"Nothing, I am not of importance as of now."

"You are important if ya think about it. If you weren't here, I'd be staying up all night looking at the moon go down and the sun go up. It's not very entertaining."

"Have you not even attempted to get sleep?"

"I do every now and then, I'm fine. Why do you care? I am just a criminal behind bars. You're a princess and should be getting beauty sleep like the rest of those chicks who spend hours on their looks."

"Are you assuming I am just like them? If you are, then you are, in fact, incorrect. Princesses have the responsibility of caring for their people and kingdom, and that includes you. Whether you are behind bars or not, you're still a citizen, living and breathing. You may not have the freedom you would prefer, however you do have rights you are entitled to. These are the standards I go by."

"That's a new one."

"No kidding, no other princesses have gone through the seclusion to understand the side of the prisoners they hold captive. It is basically the same as them being kidnapped themselves."

"I see. You should probably get some sleep, Girlie."

"I would rather stay down here. I stare into the darkness of the cosmos while attempting to put myself to a calm enough stage to get some kind of rest. It's nearly impossible.*

"How come?" Waluigi rises from his bed in interest, proceeding towards the bars on his cell leaning against them while grasping a gentle hold on two of them. The two made direct eye contact and paused for a moment in silence. "Is there something wrong with the room service or..?" Rosalina chuckles at his statement.

"Of course not. The Mushroom Kingdom is definitely one of the best kingdoms to stay at, I must say. However, it lacks flavor. I don't have company down here other than my Luma who mainly stays outside or in the room. It rarely comes down with me since this area isn't as familiar as the observatory. Honestly, you are nice to talk to. I am learning so much about you and different aspects of your personality that I wouldn't have thought of."

"Really now?" Waluigi centers his weight and the two are standing straight looking at each other. Rosalina then rests her small and delicate hands on top of his gloved hands that were still grasping the bars on the cell. Without another thought, Waluigi blurted, "What's this?"

"I don't know, I am trying something new. I've seen it before and it seemed like the appropriate moment. Shall I stop?"

"No, no. It's actually nice." Waluigi smiled at the princess as Toadsworth peeks his head through the door to the dungeon hall.

"Alrighty princess, it's time to go to sleep." Toadsworth exclaims as his voice echoes down the halls. Startled, Rosalina snaps out of her distracted stage and into attention.

"I must go. Until tomorrow, I suppose." Rosalina picks up her small bag from the bench on the other side of the hall and rushes out.

Waluigi sighs in awe. "Until tomorrow, then." He smiles and watches her speed walk down the halls and back to Toadsworth who was whistling while opening up the door.

"Well well well," Another voice snickers from the darkness. "You weren't as alone as you thought now. Don't worry, I won't tell." 

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"Peach!!" Daisy screeches in distress. "I can't find the dress you wanted me to wear! Does it have to be that one?"

"Of course it does, Daisy. Don't you know how to dress yourself?" Peach walks in collectively, makeup half finished and only her corset and a small gown, meant to be under her dress, on. "And why haven't you started your makeup? We don't have much time."

"Who needs makeup? It's overrated." Daisy snaps. She had the kind of personality in which makeup and pretty gowns weren't the only important thing. Although her and Princess Peach were very close, they did have many major differences, such as this. 

"Oh please, Daisy. You must look your best. You are an ambassador princess, so you must dress the part! Mario and Luigi's annual celebration is beginning soon and we don't have a moment to spare! We need to knight them on time as well!" Peach proceeds with zipping up Daisy's dress and putting on her own. She then completed both of their makeup and walked out onto the balcony in front of the kingdom. It was the fifth anniversary of the day Mario and Luigi first saved Princess Peach from Bowser's kidnapping, and each year, it was taken as a big deal in the kingdom.

"Ahem." The princess begins her speech as Daisy stands behind her with poise, being proud of the Mario brothers. "I would like to announce that today does, in fact, mark the exact day Mario and Luigi came to my rescue exactly five years ago. Their heroic bravery has been exhibited in the kingdom ever since this first act of bravery, so I would like to call Mario and Luigi up now to be officially knighted. A toad hands peach her golden scepter as the brothers kneel down. After a long, yet powerful speech. The princess announces the official knighting. "I may now present you all, Sir Mario and Sir Luigi of the Mushroom Kingdom!" Applause is heard from everywhere across the lands and the celebration finally begins. However, a certain princess is not able to be found anywhere across the swarm of people.

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	5. Chapter 5

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The two princesses look across the conversing crowd and could find no sign of the celestial princess, only her Luma hopelessly looking around for its wandering owner. "We must find her at once, who knows what could have happened to her?" Peach worries.

"She might be with Waluigi again. He's such a sleazy jerk, what does she find so interesting about him?" Daisy snaps.

"I don't know, but we can check the dungeons, I suppose. We must begin the ceremony first, however."

"Agreed." The princesses proceed through the castle and down to the courtyard, where the food and drinks would be served for the citizens, who were now patiently conversing within themselves and waiting in a line marked by velvet ropes on the sides. Daisy unties the velvet rope leading to the entrance of the buffet and announces that dinner is served. The townspeople quickly flood into the dining area and begin to eat the fine cuisines presented that night. The ballroom, where everyone would dine, was accessible through two large glass doors in the side of the kingdom that glistened in the sunset.

Daisy and Peach continued into the ballroom to say their final words and proceed to find Rosalina, though they were greeted by one of the men of honor. "Hello Peach! How-a are you-a tonight? And you-a Daisy?" Mario chirps in his innocent voice and somewhat Italian accent. He was dressed rather sharply, with a black suit and a red bow tie. He lacked his hat and had his hair slicked back as well.

"We are just fine, Mario. We are looking for Rosalina. Would ya mind helping?" Daisy frantically replies, aching to search for the lost princess. "And where's Luigi, he can help too." She suggests.

"Oh yes! Luigi will-a be here any moment now! He's-a getting some of the food set out by-a Peach!" Mario chuckles, pinching Peach's cheek as she blushed.

Luigi then approaches the trio, wearing the classic black top hat with a lime green stripe circling around right above the brim. He wore a green blazer and pants with a matching tie, a black dress shirt beneath the well planned outfit. "Alright guys, quit the romance and let's-a go find the princess!" Daisy proceeded to link arms with him, walking somewhat foolishly as she stared into his determined eyes. The group of four continued down though the castles, down the flight of stairs, and into the dungeon hall. No one had been there, except for the silent prisoners, not a word emerging through their lips. "What's-a going on here? Why are you-a all so quiet?"

"Waluigi isn't saying nothing, we we won't respond to him until he responds to us." Koopa Paratroopa explains, sitting once again in his cell.

"Responds to you about what?" Peach asks, somewhat calmly considering her usual attitude towards prisoners.

"I don't even remember at this point. Wario?"

"Yeah yeah, he got something from the princess and won't tell us what." Wario snaps back.

"I keep tellin' ya, she didn't give me anything!" Waluigi yells, extremely annoyed with Wario's attitude. "So quit yelling at me and get on with yourselves."

"That's it. If you're gonna yell at me, I'll yell to the guests."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yeah. Ya see, Mario and friends, Waluigi here has been chillaxing with the star princess, they've got something going on." Wario raises his eyebrows several times.

"The second part to that is not true, we just talk to each other about random things. It's not the end of the world, Wario."

"What will be the end of the world is if you don't tell us what she gave you and how she disappeared. I listen, Walu, so don't play the innocent card and act like nothing happened."

"I don't follow." Waluigi crosses his arms and looks at Wario with a disgusted look.

"Get ready, princesses and plumbers, things here just got a little spicy!" Ashley sarcastically cheers as she sits back down on her bed and slumps down, extremely disrespectful at the sight of royalty.

"Waluigi, I can't stand the fact that you are still giving me your coy bull-crap and playing the innocent card all of a sudden. You should be ashamed of yourself and get your act together. You act and treat me as if I'm that old, fat, greedy, stupid brother who has no idea what the hell happens around me, but I clearly am the only one who has the answers. Gather up the strength left over from the nonexistent muscles in your arms to tell the rich chicks what you did to their friend or I will." Wario takes an extremely large breath before crossing his arms back and waiting for the silence to shatter after his long speech to his brother.

"If you want to play that way, be my guest. But let me say something first. What happened was-" Waluigi spoke before he was interrupted.

"This is good." Daisy speaks. "Y'all can take turns saying what you saw. We can come up with a conclusion after then. Waluigi, first."

"Basically, Wario wasn't lying about the visiting part. She would come every now and then to visit me and talk about whether her decision to reduce my sentence was right or not. Last night, I waited for her, a bit longer than usual. She never came so I turned to sleep. Then someone through the bars tapped my back so I turned around thinking is was Rosalina. All I remember is someone short punching me in the face and I was knocked down cold. I woke up this morning to Wario and everyone interrogating me." Waluigi concluded. His tone was genuine, he never stopped to think about what he had to say next. His case seemed pretty realistic. They then moved on to Wario, who was anxiously waiting to state his case the whole time Waluigi was speaking.

"So last night, I saw Waluigi waiting and he seemed pathetic so I went back to bed. I then heard a thump or something hitting the ground, so I came into attention and saw Waluigi still waiting all lovey dubby as his princess came in. Not to mention, he is clearly head over heels for her."

"Not true."

"Excuse me, Walu, I am speaking. So they started saying a ton of disgusting love things and whatnot, doing weird things, they're both so weird they're meant to be. He was staring right through her soul or something while he freaking leaned in his face and they literally acted like a full on couple. Don't even get me started on how long they kissed." Waluigi blushed at the phrase Wario spoke. He couldn't imagine kissing Rosalina. "She then pulled back and gave him this gift in a small tied up box. She said not to open it until he knew the time was right and left. Once she left, he had some sinister look on his face and his eyes glowed green. He opened the box and then he disappeared one second, and reappeared behind the princess who was walking down the halls. He whispered something to her and then punched her down, picking her up right after. She was unconscious, and then he said some weird words quietly, and he dragged her down into the darkness. What a cruel little-"

"When did that even happen? It's impossible unless... Maybe this was schemed. Since when would I kiss a princess? Or beat one up? I might throw bombs and steal things but direct violence isn't my thing. I promise, I wouldn't do something like that."

"Huh, I never thought about it that way. My bro wouldn't have the nerve to make out with someone or the audacity to knock out his crush. Sorry bro, I was caught in the moment."

"It's fine, Wario. I see why you would think that. I bet it's an imposter and we need to get to the bottom of this."

"Thanks, you two. This was very helpful. We have been suspecting a certain prisoner and this makes us nothing but more certain. We will get to the bottom of this." Peach pitches in. She, Daisy, and the other plumbers continued out of the dungeon and down the halls and to the detective toad. Lately, there has been apparent trouble and mischief in the kingdom, done by trusted toads and citizens if the kingdom. There was clearly one culprit, and Peach was just about to clear it up for everyone, until she was interrupted by none other than Toadsworth.

"Princess, we have found Rosalina, though she is not in the best of conditions. Come with me." There, the four were astounded to find Rosalina laying, nearly lifeless, on one of the beds, a nurse toad keeping a cold bag of peas against the cosmic princess' forehead.

Soon enough, her hand emerged from the blankets to brush back her hair from her pale face, more pale than usual. She was wearing a pastel blue nightgown now, and the toads rejoiced when her eyes fluttered open gently and she sat up. "What happened to me?"

"I don't know, but we found you in the green house unconscious!" Toadsworth exclaimed to the damsel in distress. The only saving she needed was from her curiosity. "We have most likely concluded a suspect, but we still need a bit more information until we can reach a verdict."

"How long have I been down?" Rosalina inquires.

"A few hours. Princesses, Mario, Luigi, you may go back to your events.Would you mind if we asked you a few questions? Afterwards, you can get more rest. They are concerning Waluigi."

"Yes sir, I'll tell you anything you need to know."

"Did he intentionally injure you in any way, shape, or form?"

"Of course not. Like I have been saying, he hasn't shown any hostility towards me at all. However, he is the one who stroke my face with his own hands, but I know for a fact, that was not Waluigi."

"Ah, so you do remember what happened before the impact."

"Yes sir."

"So what happened to the upcoming moments of it?"

"Waluigi had thrown the box I gave him into the dungeon and tapped my back. He then injured me and picked me up, whispering some words in a different language until I dazed out and my vision faded to black. Now here we are."

"Intriguing. Was there anything peculiar about him or his actions?"

"Only his eyes, his pupils were green, so bright they seemed to be emitting a light. We must get to the bottom of this. The gift I gave him has very powerful magic if it lands in the wrong hands. Someone who is informed of what they are capable of can be very dangerous. Otherwise, they are harmless and useless. I intended to give the gift to all of the prisoners since their cells are magic proof."

"What was in the gift?"

"Star bits, my favorite. They taste like honey but have the power of shape shifting someone who eats them. Someone who is capable of doing so can put the Mushroom kingdom in great danger, especially if it was a criminal."

"We will get to the bottom of this. You should get some rest now, M'lady, we want you to be well for the rest of your stay here."

"Thank you, Toadsworth."

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The party once again commenced, many crazed fans were lining up for quite some time to receive a signed portrait of the brothers. The party in general was definitely well deserved for all the work they have done. The cuisine was magnificent, the people were all exhibiting the best possible behavior, the whole production was the epitome of class and elegance. All according to Peach's plan for the night. Mario and Luigi had enjoyed the night as well, and had thanked the princesses for the event. The night came to a rest, and for the most part, mysteries were solved.

Meanwhile, in the dungeons, there was complete and utter havoc. Everyone had been accusing each other for who had done the crimes. Ask one person, they'd say it was someone else. Ask them, they'd point their fingers at another person. No matter what, no one could come to a definite conclusion but they did have an idea of two culprits capable of what went down.

Kamek and King Boo.

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	6. Chapter 6

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"What the actual hell do you think you're talking about?" King Boo snapped as Ashley pointed an accusing finger at him. "How could I have done anything if I was right here the whole time asleep? This makes no sense. Chances are, you're arguing to defend yourself before anyone suspects a thing." 

"So now you think it was me? Honey buns, they took my wand." Ashley gritted her teeth as she clenched tightly onto her stuffed rabbit. "Without that, I'm nothing." She slumped down against the wall with a tear emerging from her eyes, her voice began to hitch. "If it weren't for Wario, we wouldn't be in this mess and I wouldn't be nothing but a piece of trash stuck in a jail cell for two more years." Tears ran down her face as she pulled her knees to her chest.

"Get over it cry baby. You, Boo, and Kamek are the only people who could have done it." Bowser yapped. "And for the record, my sentence was three years so stop complaining."

"What if Waluigi just made this sob story up to get his sentence even shorter. Heck he has only twenty something days left for crying out loud and we're here keeping him from being accused. He's probably getting his poor brother Wario out of this mess too." Ashley rose up, contemplating ideas. "Just watch, I'm right on this one. Now stop your snipper snappering and say something actually useful for once, King Koopa. Be nobel to your subjects, you tend not to give respect to anyone, and your poor 'Prince' here hasn't spoken a word since day one and you haven't given the slightest bit of attention to him, but you have the audacity to come here pointing fingers when your biggest problem is in the cell across from you." She walked to her bed and slumped down with a smirk. "Think about it."

And there he was, Bowser Jr. was sitting on his bed, slouched, thin, and pale. He looked out the small barred window in his cell, his head resting on his palm. "She's right." He weakly peeped. "This whole time, you've neglected me. Why would I bother saying anything if you always say it's wrong. I saw who it was, and chances are you're not even going to care to listen." Ashley's eyes widened at this statement, but before they knew it, he passed out right onto the bed, looking almost dead. He had everyone's attention in the room, people could swear the 'all powerful' Bowser had glossy eyes as he gasped, until a thump in a distant cell is heard from another person fainting, and another, and another. Four prisoners down, four left.

"They're not getting me this time." Someone within the room whispered as another prisoner fainted.

Toadsworth began approaching the hall, his footsteps were evident to the final three as they gulped in both fear and anticipation.

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"Ah, sweet morning." Peach yawned as she emerged from her slumber, taking a sip out of the freshly made tea next to her bed that Toadsworth set a few minutes before. She adjusted her hair before taking another sip and placing the small china back on the night stand and rising. She went to her wardrobe and selected a pink gown, not necessarily fancy, but not casual either. It went down to right above her knees, had a heart shaped neckline, and full length lace sleeves. On top, she put on her usual sapphire amulet and matching earrings, and carefully placed her crown on. Barefoot, she walked to her shoe closet where she selected a pair of nude heels and continued on to sit on a chair next to her bed, sipping her tea once again.

"PEACHY!" She was disrupted by the scream and a loud knock on the door as the slightest bit of her tea spilled on her dress, and she calmly took a handkerchief and patted it off. "I must spill some tea!" And there she was, Princess Daisy walked into the room excitedly.

Peach glared at her. "I'm afraid you already have." She set back down the cup and smiled before getting up to embrace Daisy, who was chuckling already. "You were saying?"

"Mario and Luigi are at the tennis court and we should join them, wouldn't it be pleasant on a day like this?" 

"Definitely, let me change." Peach went back into her closet and changed into her usual sporting outfit, a hot pink jumpsuit and sneakers, practically simple. She packed a pull string bag and went downstairs to the main hall where she would exit the castle, though she was stopped by a Toad who bore a scroll.

"You mustn't leave, princesses. We fear you are in danger, read this." He passed Peach and Daisy the scroll that captivated their attention.

Dear Princess Peach,  
This is Toadsworth, we fear that you are endangered. An issue has rose with the situation between certain prisoners and Rosalina, so I wish you remain indoors. We do not want to disclose the information and keep it on the down low, as we do not want to frighten the civilians. Please understand my intentions and stay in the upper corridors. I am doing this for your safety.  
Yours Truly,  
Toadsworth

"What about Mario and Luigi? Are they able to stay with us? We must get someone to notify them." Peach spoke to the Toad.

"Yes ma'am, we will get them now. Do you by any chance know where they are?" the Toad inquired.

"The tennis courts, please get them immediately." Daisy addressed while grabbing Peach's shoulder and leading her back to the upper corridors. 

"What do you think they could have done? They have been confined into their own separate cells, magic proof and all. I don't get the issue. Either way, there isn't much we can do here at this point, the upper corridors aren't as interesting as the outdoors." Peach sighed as she closed the door to her room and opened her window, leaning on the windowsill.

"I don't know, but we can keep up with the issues in the city and find ways to fix them for now, there's really not much else." Daisy sat on the bed with a newspaper, her eyes were directed to one sub topic. "Infinipipe incident?"

"Ah, the infinipipe, not necessarily the best scenario."

"Mind explaining?"

"We don't know why or how this is happening, but a large pipe came from the ground one day, there are no limits as to what it can take in. The toads have built a wall around it to keep civilians safe, but there are still no limits."

"What was the incident then?"

"Someone's daughter in the nearby neighborhood went missing, we suppose it is because of the infinipipe, it is dangerous but solvable. We have people around the area keeping it secure and there was already an evacuation within a mile radius around it called. We are still looking for the child but will solve this for sure."

"That's scary, I couldn't imagine the pain the family is going through."

"I agree." Peach glanced at the large brick walls surrounding the pipe in the distance and sighed. The door to her room was knocked once again. "Come in."

"Princesses, we brought you something!" Mario exclaimed as he and Luigi walked in, cleaned up after their tennis game. "Fresh pizza from downstairs, it is about lunch time so we supposed you two would be hungry, we're famished!" They opened up the box and the aroma filled the room.

"Now this is more my style!" Daisy took the box of pizza and placed it on Peach's bed, plopped down on it, and began eating. "What do you have there Luigi?" She noticed he was holding a pitcher.

"Sparkling lemonade, goes well with the pepperoni." He placed the pitcher on the nightstand and took out four glasses, pouring an even portion of the drink in each of them. He began to pass them out. "So what were you two doing until we arrived?"

"Talking about some issues around the city." Peach responded before sitting on her bed in the iconic criss-cross-apple-sauce position and eating pizza with one hand, drinking sparkling lemonade with the other.

"Like what?" Mario became intrigued and ate some pizza, leaning against the bottom of the bed.

"Infinipipe, it's on a rampage and took a child from someone, I feel terrible." Daisy replied while taking a sip of her drink.

"That's terrible, why haven't we heard?" Luigi responded.

"You know Toadsworth, nothing dangerous leaves the castle or we get issues with the kingdom. Everything is a secret from the citizens, I don't agree with it but Toadsworth is in fact in charge around here until I'm older." Peach slouched.

"Honey buns, twenty years old is old enough, what is he talking about? He isn't king." Daisy looked up.

"I know, Dai, but my father would have expected me to keep on following Toadsworth's guidance until I am twenty one."

"Isn't your birthday soon?" Mario put the leftover crust of his pizza on the box, the pizza almost finished, the drink already gone.

"I don't know, I haven't kept track lately, everything is getting so stressful between the infinipipe, other country politics and relations, the prisoners, Rosalina too." Peach rose from the bed and looked at her calendar, grabbing a red marker and crossing out the day. It was the last day of January, and she tore off the page and a giant blue circle under "February 1st" was evident to everyone in the room. "Tomorrow? How didn't I realize my own birthday was so soon, I've been so oblivious that I haven't even thought about it. This means my coronation is soon as well."

"We don't blame you, but we should celebrate something?" Luigi suggested.

"Definitely not. Not with all of the issues happening, maybe just us four, some of the staff, and Rosalina. I wonder how she's doing now. I'm pretty sure she's been in the garden all morning."

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The weather was crisp in the green house, the flowers blooming at the thought of the winter weather finally warming up for the birth of February. The wind blew Rosalina's platinum hair to the left, her face revealed to the empty world in front of her as her bangs flew with the rest of her hair. She bore a red rose as she shed a tear, thinking about what has happened with her forbidden love.

Yes, she was in love with the prisoner in purple, but did not admit it to him, nor anyone else. She was notified of the issue with the prisoners in the morning and could not bear the thought, so she pondered over it at the garden, thinking the views of the vibrant flowers and the colorful wind would blind her from her thoughts, but it was unsuccessful.

In her eyes, Waluigi did show care, but had expressed it in a somewhat original way. For the princess, he had shown a soft spot in his heart, thought she couldn't bear the thought of him attacking her, it seemed uncharacteristic to her. Nonetheless, it had happened and she was forced to face it. She shed another tear.

A toad approached her with warm biscuits with jelly and a glass of iced peach tea, she thanked the toad and proceeded to stare at the red rose, thinking about everything that has happened for the past four days with the prisoners. Alas, she rose once once again and continued her meal indoors. "It's not fair." She finally mumbled after a morning of silence.

"Say that again princess?" A toad in the room came into attention.

"It isn't fair, all of these prisoners going down and we cannot do anything about it, I feel helpless." Her voice rose slightly as she looked in the general direction of the prison hall.

"I understand, but we are trying our best to solve this mystery, we don't want anything else such as the incident with you to occur again." He pointed to the mark on her face.

"I can't believe it, I know it wasn't him, his own brother even admitted Waluigi wouldn't do anything of the sorts." She placed her hand on the red mark and shed another tear.

"Lighten up, Rosalina. We will figure this out for you and I promise it will be easier. Here," The toad picked up a stuffed rabbit and handed it to Rosalina. "This was sent in to you, it will hopefully make matters better." She observed it and smiled.

"Thank you." She responded before returning to her room and putting it on her nightstand. Little did she know, there was a small piece of paper tagged to the back that read:

Watch out, Princess, I'm coming for your wand.

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	7. Chapter 7

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Earlier that Day

"Nap time? Why so early?" Toadsworth was genuinely concerned. "Is everything alright here?"

"Definitely not." Kamek spoke up, Bowser in tears, Boo wandering around his cell in confusion. "Everyone just fainted, we don't know why."

"Just... fainted? Who fainted, exactly?" Toadsworth began to pace down the dungeon hall looking in each cell.

"First was my son, then Wario, Waluigi, Paratroopa, and then Ashley after a pause. Find out what is happening to my son, now." Bowser demanded.

"I do not know anything of the sorts, but I will notify the princesses of this and to stay out, oh dear oh dear." Toadsworth paced out to a guard toad to deliver the message and returned, first going to Bowser Jr.'s cell. He observed him closely and gently tapped the prisoner's face, Junior let out a groan. "He is not dead, that's for sure." Bowser sighed in relief as Toadsworth once again tapped Bowser Jr.'s face and his eyes fluttered open.

"Junior!" Bowser yelped in rejoice. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know, I just fell down, I was feeling fine and my muscles stopped working, I could hear everything but I couldn't move, now I just snapped back into attention." Junior rubbed his head in pure confusion.

"Good to know, we would look into this. It isn't normal without some kind of enchantment." Toadsworth left the cell and moved down the hallways. "We will get back to you all with more information. We will get to the bottom of this. We cannot have ill prisoners." He moved on to Ashley's cell, observing other prisoners on the way.

He carefully opened the door and closed it behind him, then he lifted her lifeless arm as she jumped awake.

"Present!" She yelped at the top of her lungs.

"Ashley, do you know what happened to you?" Toadsworth examined her thoroughly as she rose and went to acquire something under her bed. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"Pretty please give this to Princess Rosalina!" She handed a stuffed rabbit to Toadsworth and then snatched it back quickly as she wrote on a tag on the back. "Here you go!" She handed it back.

"Alright, Ashley." Toadsworth took it and gave it to the guard toad to deliver to the princess. "Now may you explain why, according to Bowser, you fainted well after the others?"

"I don't know, my muscles just, er, stopped working." She replied in a squeamish tone.

"Similar to Bowser Jr. I suppose?"

"Yes sir. Now go check on the others, I already have my work done."

"Work?"

"I'm awake, aren't I?"

"You confuse me, missy."

"Don't I?"

"Enough already and check on the others!" Kamek interjected. 

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Present Time

"Well, Princess, you must certainly prepare for your coronation if your birthday is soon, you would be old enough to make your own decisions and rule the kingdom as your parents would have wanted you to." Mario advised Peach as he finished his slice of pizza and threw away the finished box. "We would have the most beautiful Queen of all of the lands." He kissed her hand gently after she took a sip of her lemonade.

"Why, Mario, you're flattering me." She chucked at his flirtatious statement. "But what do you all suggest we do for the after party?"

"I think we should prepare the ballroom to be at its finest, invite all of the kingdom. Make it grand." Daisy pitches in, somewhat blunt with her statement.

"What a pleasant suggestion, absolutely everyone is invited, I'd rather make everyone in this kingdom welcome, not shut them out as my father did, not make a limited list of friends and family to attend." Peach sits on her bed, satisfied.

"And by that, you mean every single citizen?" Rosalina walked in through the door of Peach's room, bowing to her in a polite manner.

"Yes! I shall send the messenger Toads to invite every single person in this entire region to celebrate a new age, a new era, with me."

"Then I suppose Waluigi may attend with me." Peach chokes on her drink in disgust, meanwhile Daisy and Mario are looking blankly at the cosmic Princess, who is now showing off a small, yet noticeable smirk.

"Hey-a everybody, I have got more piz-" Luigi walks in through the open door in confusion as everyone is in utter silence staring at Rosalina. "Is everything okay here?"

"Just fine. So is it a yes, Princess Peach?" Rosalina inquires calmly. The princess in pink sighs in defeat, contemplating her answer.

"You are aware of the conspiracy that occurred last night, correct?" Rosalina nodded. "Then why would you want to invite such a heinous criminal?"

"He is not a criminal, though. There is something unusual about this whole situation. I know for a fact that it-"

"IT WASN'T WALUIGI!" Toadsworth, while unknowingly completing Rosalina's phrase, scrambled into the now crowded bedroom in distress. "I have a new suspect, at this point it is nearly obvious, but I don't understand their motives just yet for all of this."

"Get on with it already, who is the person behind this sorcery?" Luigi impatiently asked.

"We have come to believe that it is Ashley. If any of you see anything suspicious, tell me immediately. We have to get working on this case and solve it immediately, find out how she had access to that level of magic within the enchanted cell. I need you all to remain calm before any sort of damage happens, we cannot risk-" Toadsworth was interrupted by a loud explosion from the west side of the castle, it left all of the staff, visitors, and royalty being blown away by a shockwave and earsplitting noise. Everyone was on the ground, nearly helpless and still dazed and confused on what just happened.

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"It's now or never, boys. Let's blow this popsicle stick and get out of here!" Ashley declared as she ate a starbit to shape-shift into an ant, crawling under a crevice in her cell, and returning back into her normal self after her transformation wore off. She took her wand out of her cloak and held it up high in achievement. 

"Ash, are you sure this is a good idea? We all know this is not going to end up well if we get caught again." Koopa Paratroopa looked at her unsurely, along with the rest of the prisoners. Waluigi was still knocked out on the floor of his cell from the spell Ashley used to make everyone faint earlier.

"Sure as ever. You all are free to go after we get out, let poor Waluigi stay in here rotting and growing old. Bowser and Wario, you're staying with me." Said criminals nodded in agreement as Ashley whipped up a Bob-omb and launched it at the wall, creating a terrifying explosion that shook the whole kingdom and even blew back the prisoners a decent amount. Regardless, they got back up and went through the massive hole in the wall to break out.

"Ludwig? Wendy?" Bowser Jr. questioned as he saw his siblings directing several pods flying in, most likely an enchantment from Kamek. 

"It's all the Koopalings! Right on time, I like it!" Wario sneers before attempting to jump into one. Eventually, all seven prisoners were able to make a clear escape, Ashley, Wario, and Bowser going back to Bowser's Castle, Waluigi sleeping through the whole thing unconscious from Ashley's spell.

Or so they thought.

Several minutes later, all three princesses, the Mario brothers, and Toadsworth were accompanied by several guards at the scene of the explosion, only to see Waluigi's nearly lifeless body on the far end of his cell, laying on the ground peacefully. He was most likely also blown away by the shockwave.

"Waluigi?" Rosalina looks into his cell in fear that the purple clad criminal would be dead, oh the sorrow she would have gone through. "Give me the keys, now!" She demanded Toadsworth. Never had anyone seen her so frantic, so impatient, so rushed before this moment. After Toadsworth handed her the keys, she opened the door to the cell, ran in, and sat down next to Waluigi, checking his pulse, placing her hand on his face, repeating the phrase 'Please don't go.' She began addressing Toadsworth. "Someone do something, please!"

Almost immediately, a Doctor Toad came in and gave Waluigi a golden mushroom, which eventually woke him up from the curse Ashley set upon him. He woke up only to see the sight of Rosalina and the Doctor Toad, only to be distracted by the sizable wreck of a prison wall behind them. "Can ya explain what's going on, Girly?" Rosalina let out a small laugh before helping him up. "And some privacy would be nice too, stop the snooping." He chuckled to the rest of the crowd sarcastically, but they did lead him to another room in the castle for him to talk alone with Rosalina while they fixed the cells. "Well?"

"There is not that much to explain, though the little there is may be complicated."

"Just get on with it, will ya?"

"For some reason, of which we do not know at the moment, five of the prisoners fell unconscious as you did. Toadsworth simply tapped the other four's faces and they woke up, though you did not move. They left you for the time being while they were finding out what exactly happened, and the next thing we know, there was an explosion in the dungeon hall, which is probably why you seem sore right now. The shockwave blew you from your bed, where Toadsworth left you, all the way to the far wall. The rest of the prisoners are gone, and you are the last one here with us."

"Ashley."

"What do you mean, 'Ashley?'"

"I knew she was no good from the second I agreed to do the heist with my brother." Waluigi grew a scowl on his face and stormed out of the room, right past Rosalina.

"Waluigi, tell me what is happening, please." Rosalina walked behind him. "I just want to find out to make things better for all of us." He stopped in his tracks and sighed, then turned around, loosely holding Rosalina's hand to lead her back to the prison hall, where Ashely's cell used to be. The old box that held the starbits that Rosalina gave to Waluigi was clearly visible. "She got a hold of them, she shape shifted to escape, she somehow got her wand back. This is not a good situation to be in right now, who knows what she could be planning."

"I heard it all, though."

"What do you mean? You were unconscious."

"Ashley cursed the five of us to make us lose control of our bodies, we were able to hear everything, we just couldn't move since our muscles somehow became useless. She only mentioned wanting to escape to Bowser's Castle and leaving me here to rot. Tough crowd."

"She never mentioned a scheme of any types?"

"Only a scheme to escape the jail, she'd been whining about it every day. Probably went to the castle for hospitality like she usually does."

"Toadsworth did say her motives were unknown, so I suppose you are correct. And your brother betrayed you?"

"I guess so, but I'm not surprised. It's not the first time he's left me behind for a snazzy opportunity."

"But Walui-"

"Before you give me a lecture, I would do the same to him." They both laughed and walked back to the room set for him, where they sat on the fluffy white couch next to each other. "Can you explain one detail for me?"

"Sure, anything you may need."

"Who, err, ehh, I mean, uhh, this was a bad idea." Waluigi stuttered and turned towards her. "IsittrueIkissedyou?" Waluigi blurted out all together, merely impossible to understand.

"Talk slowly, no question is a bad question. I do not judge."

He sighed in defeat, and did seventeen mental pushups to prepare for the statement. "Did I actually kiss you and punch you in the face, or is that just a rumor?"

"You did, but I know it was not really your doing."

"Err, I mean some details, would be, ehh, nice too ya know."

"If it were actually you, I would have enjoyed it much more, in hindsight." She looked him in the eyes and he leaned in.

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	8. Chapter 8

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"Rosalina, you're needed by Toadsworth, immediately." A guard toad walked in right as said princess and Waluigi were about to meet lips. Startled by the door opening, they both stopped and returned to sitting normally before the toad could see anything.

"Thank you, I will see you soon, Waluigi." She rose up from the bed to be lead by the guard.

The toad continued. "As for you, Waluigi, you may stay in this room for now." Waluigi nodded. "Rosalina, follow me." It began to lead her out, leaving Waluigi confused.

What am I doing? This girl is a princess and I'm a criminal, I explode things for a living. Waluigi thought to himself. There is no logic. How do I even know if she still thinks I'm nothing but a barbaric fraud.

No, she can't. She isn't one who would play with feelings like that, I know she isn't. I know she is the only person who ever showed me a shred of care, the only one who wouldn't leave me behind. I know she is true to her word, genuine, kindhearted. I know she believes me, as devious as I can be. I know she is forgiving and understands me. I know she sees me for Waluigi, not for whoever the criminals made me. I know she is intelligent, pure, beautiful-- but that is definitely an understatement.

I know I love her. The man nearly drowned in his thoughts and tucked himself into the bed, longing for actual rest -- since the fake coma he had been in did not quench his need for sleep -- after the events that had unfolded.

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"As you may know, Princess Peach's coronation is in the making." Toadsworth spoke to the three princesses. "Something jubilant may draw away the distress caused by the prisoner outbreaks, we are here to solve this predicament! I believe the coronation shall be this Friday."

"Why so soon? My birthday is tomorrow, and that's already Wednesday! Isn't this a bit rushed?"

"Not at all! It's perfect to cheer up the citizens with the princess they love!"

"Since you most definitely want to cheer up the town so much, and of course cheer me up, you should plan my wedding with Mario!"

"Your father always said you were rebellious."

"Come again?"

"Ahem, I don't think so, missy, you're only turning twenty one."

"But according to the statements of the kingdom, 'He, --or in this case: she,-- who is next in the line of succession shall fully rule once they are of the age of twenty one.' According to the rules themselves, I could technically plan my own coronation."

"Your parents wouldn't want you going against my word. They said that you follow my instructions until the time comes."

"My parents would have wanted me to rule the kingdom myself with pride. The time is so close, I can undo what you do today!"

"Not under my watch, Princess. We shall make the coronation take place on Friday and that is final. Am I understood?"

"Sure." Peach sat down in her seat, slumping in defeat. "Then at least allow me to invite all of the people of the kingdom. They can fit in the ballroom with simple adjustments and-"

"Are you insane? Of course not. The coronations for the all of the past generations are strictly ambassadors from other kingdoms and family. You know this, Peach."

"Call me insane, but I want the kingdom to witness history. If you're making my coronation against my will, allow me to do this one task."

"Definitely not! Centuries of tradition only to be broken by you? By golly, I'd rather a descendant of yours rebel against the rules, someone who rules far after I have deceased. But, like I said before, not under my watch."

"You're back at it again, Toadsworth. You may have raised me from my teenage years to now, but that hasn't pushed away the morals my parents taught me in their time; about being independent and strong, standing by my beliefs, bringing equality and justice to the people. What morality do I bring if the kingdom is kept away, outside of the walls where they don't know a thing about all of these incidents and instances that you decided to keep secret from everyone. I am not standing by this and I will fight for what I think is right!" Peach stomped her left food and growled in anger, the other princesses and guards stunned by her lack of composure. The room flooded with silence, a deadly silence.

The deadly silence in the room that made their blood as cold as the late winter air that was out and about the kingdom, taunting the villagers and everyone surrounding. Winter is peaceful, but it seemed as the opposite in this pocket of stillness, with Peach breathing heavily in pure anger. In moments, it was shattered by a slow and sarcastic applause, coming from Toadsworth, the man himself.

"Impressive, you remind me of your mother." He chuckled.

"I give you a whole speech of my beliefs and you tell me something I already know, unbelievable!" Peach threw her arms up in boiling rage. "My mother, and father for that matter, raised me for the first fourteen years of my life, I would know if I acted like them."

"Definitely. Infuriated scowl, check. Persistence, check. Short temper, why, as short as a bob-omb's timer! What else..."

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Argh! Toadsworth, I am trying to protest against your inequitable rules and you're here with your useless comebacks. I am only trying to meet the wants of everyone in my kingdom. If that means I shall break tradition and bring them into my kingdom to witness a Princess becoming Queen, so be it. I will be the ruler that makes the people equal and feel like they have the rights they deserve in this monarchy. That's what my parents would have wanted."

It was now Toadsworth's turn to stand back stunned, and he contemplated for a tick before nodding in defeat. The pink clad princess squealed in success, and Toadsworth flipped a page on his clipboard. "Then we have come to a conclusion. Three days until coronation. Peach, I need you to take care of invitations, as you requested, wardrobe, and introductions. Leave the rest to me." Toadsworth scribbled notes on his clipboard and left the three princesses to socialize on their own.

"What was that all about, girl?" Daisy looked at Peach, concerned.

"I never enjoy it when Toadsworth does everything out of proportion to me, especially when he brings my mother into the picture." Peach sighed once again. "He is overbearing at times, I wish that I have had some kind of freedom to do something that I would think is beneficial for the kingdom. I can be strong too. All he has brought me up to be was a damsel in distress being saved by two plumbers time to time. Bowser may have captured one of you two in a heartbeat, but he sees me vulnerable, as a target.

"I don't think that's the image my parents would have wanted, to see their child be scared and afraid of the world ahead of her. I could have been defending myself rather than waiting to be scared, I would have loved to see the kind of life I would have lived if things were like that. Don't get me wrong, I love the man, he kept me under his wing since my parents disappeared that day. I still wonder what happened to them and why they disappeared up until now, and it's been more than six years, but I guess Toadsworth doesn't want to lose the last ties he has to my family."

"I agree, your parents were most likely not perfect either, and you were raised by them anyways. Toadsworth should trust you, not tell you what to do." Rosalina patted her shoulder. "But think about the reality we live in. Who knows why your parents disappeared, we may never know at this rate, but the universe has a way of chaining what has happened in the past to now. Your parents leaving is only one domino in the line, falling over to the next one, and the next, and so on. The following events from here on out will determine which domino we hit next, which one falls next depends on you, Peach. I believe that if someone, such as Toadsworth himself, were to bring up the woman who raised me, I would feel the same way as you are. I am sorry about your parents, too. I empathize what you are going through." Rosalina looked up, contemplating what had happened in her past, how it was oddly similar to Peach's.

Daisy then joined in, and the three by now were sitting on a nearby bench, with a distressed Peach in the center. "Think about what has happened that you're proud of, girl!" Daisy began to lighten up the mood with her joyful voice, how jubilant it was to their ears. "Sure, Bowser may have decided to abduct you for his selfish reasons, but who in specific did you meet in the process?"

"I don't know, many people actually." Peach shrugged and looked at Daisy quizzically. "Where are you going with this?"

"Who saved you all these times?" Daisy looked right at Peach at this point, even more determined and powerful with her expressions.

"Mario and Luigi of course."

"And what do those two guys mean to you?" This made Peach stop and think for quite some time. She thought about the ways they have changed her life, her personality, everything.

"For starters, Luigi is one of the kindest, genuine, and funniest people I've met. Sure, he's clumsy and awkward when it comes to words, but he never leaves a dead moment, he always keeps the mood going, always sticks by your side, and is always there for you. Mario," She paused for a second, her heart melting at only the name, "He is brave, heroic, and resourceful. He was able to save me with what he had, and his personality completes the package. He is indescribable, honestly, I'd ramble off so much just to describe what he means to me. To shorten it, I love that man."

Daisy smirked as Peach slouched, peacefully smiling into the abyss. "Now let's go into an alternate reality in which your parents were with you here the whole time. Bowser wouldn't have targeted you because there were more people at your side. You would have never met two people you loved dearly. You wouldn't have been close to me since our kingdoms grew closer after the loss of your parents, we wouldn't be here right now." Peach was in awe with the statement, she had just rethought everything she spoke about. In reassurance, she nodded and the three princesses moved on down the hallways.

"Oh my gosh!" Peach stopped in her tracks in utter joy, "I just realized, I get to do wardrobe! I say the guests all wear black and white attire, it will be of upmost class. Us three, the Mario Brothers, and whoever Rosalina goes with shall wear their own schemes. That will display how they are the guests of honor!"

"Sounds like a plan." Rosalina agreed.

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"Mind telling us why you brought us back here to Bowser's dump?" Wario snapped, sitting on the throne as if it were a casual couch.

"This place is so obvious that they wouldn't target us. Plus, the security is great." Ashley walked down the hall as if she owned the place, Bowser was with his children in another room.

"If you want me to help you with your plan, you're going to have to be damn good at bribery." Wario glared at Ashley, she snaps her fingers. "What's a snap gonna- MONA!" And there was the older teen waiting at the doorway in her signature cheerleader uniform, gingery hair brushed back with a hat pulling it together, and the look finished with her holding a pizza.

"WARIO!" She ran towards him, offering the pizza, Wario gladly accepting and munching a slice. "I am so glad you're back from that scary prison!" She was clearly love struck and cuddled up to the man, who was oblivious to the flirts, but missed the worker nonetheless.

"Now you're speaking my language, Ashley. Where do we start?" Wario grinned devilishly as the witch cracked her knuckles.

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	9. Chapter 9

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The word of this event had spread like the plague. Information about it was known by the whole body of citizens in a matter of hours, and the prior excitement cannot compare to any other kind of event thrown by the castle council. Of course, it would normally take word like this about a week to spread through announcements and mouth, but the anticipation and thrill for it had let the entire Mushroom Kingdom hear about it in the four days that it was planned in.

Peach, of course, was restless. She had never been to any of the neighboring coronations because they were either before her time, or yet to come. For example, Princess Daisy is yet to be coronated because of her age, being only nineteen coming on twenty. This whole concept is new to her, and she is going to have to go through with it without any kind of direct advice other than Toadsworth.

Mario and Luigi had helped with the heavy duty decorating, moving structures in the great hall to fit the large crowd. There they were, standing and waving to the incoming visitors at the entrance who would take their seats on either side of the carpeted path. There was a large podium under a skylight, the sunset's shimmer raining down through it, creating a gentle stream of luminescence perfectly placed upon the pedestal.

The pedestal was white and marble, mostly typical for any platform holding the crown and scepter in this type of event. Neither of these have been touched in the past six years, as the castle staff did not find it appropriate for the missing King and Queen's items to be touched by none other than their young daughter.

The crown she was to be given was carefully crafted with glowing pure silver. Three peaks adorned it in the front, all equal in length. In each peak was a different precious gem, each representing an asset of the kingdom. In the center was a shining and deep cerulean Topaz, representing true spiritual love. To the left was a stone of dazzling purple Amethyst, exhibiting the earth and its tangible objects. On the right peak, there was an Emerald, representing rebirth as the kingdom was being passed on to a new ruler. Each stone was equal in size, only to represent true equality within everyone in the kingdom.

This very crown goes back generations, centuries. The meaning behind it was so precious, so precise, and the crown was only to be worn at this event, as well as the wedding of the upcoming queen. The scepter matched the crown, having a large orb of rare moonstone in the center, with a silver lining on top, and the staff had the same three stones on its sides as well. It was clear that the crown and scepter were a perfect match since the beginning of the Mushroom Kingdom.

As for Wario, Bowser, and Ashley, nothing had been heard or seen from them in the past days, but let's just say they have been planning something big to take effect soon.

The room was parted into two sections, the left was royalty and ambassadors from kingdoms across the area, and the right was filled with citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, some even standing in the back due to the lack of seats.

It was now time for the congregation to rise and look towards the back for the guests of honor to enter, walk down the isle, and take their places in the hall. First to enter was Mario, who had his hair slicked back, mustache groomed, and a black tuxedo, with a red dress shirt and tie underneath. It was unbuttoned, but still looked classy nonetheless.

Behind him was none other than Luigi, wearing nearly the same outfit with tones of green replacing the red. Luigi was apprehensive with people being attentive towards him, he wasn't one who enjoyed the spotlight, even if he was followed by others.

To most of the citizens' shock, walking slowly next to Luigi was Waluigi, the third male guest of honor. As Peach requested, he wore the same thing the other two men did, except he did not wear the tuxedo jacket and had a purple color scheme. All three of the men were dressed simply and took their places in front of the crowd in their designated seats, the same row as Toadsworth and the rulers of Sarasaland.

During the procession, there was an impeccable serenade of horns playing several recognizable tunes to accompany the event, it was pristine. Although all the castle council and guests of honor were perfectly confident in this event, Peach still remained with a certain insecurity.

Last Night

Daisy awoke to the sound of whimpering, but not any type of petty and useless whimpering, it was the type you would hear if someone were genuinely scared, frightened, extremely anxious. Curiously, she wandered around the upper corridors to find Princess -soon to be Queen- Peach sitting on her bed, squeezing her knees and crying into them while rocking back and forth.

"Peach, what happened?" Daisy gasped as she rushed towards her friend and sat on the bed next to her, holding her and comforting her.

"Par-parents, my, parents!" She managed to choke out between sobs. "I-I see them!" Peach was feeling nothing but pure trepidation. Her mind was playing these little schemes on her at the most inconvenient time possible, she shivered at every time her parents even appeared in her mind; seeing -or hallucinating- them standing in front of her and putting her down only made matters worse.

"Peachy, they disappeared a long time ago," Daisy continued to comfort her. This was the first time she had seen her close friend break down because of something regarding her parents. "How did you see them?"

"I d-don't know, but they were here, here! Telling me to stop trying so hard because I couldn't ha-handle the throne!"

"I don't understand, was it a dream? Maybe it was just some kind of mental thing?"

"I don't know but it is not real! B-but it seemed so real! Why now, why tonight m-must they show up!" It was at the point that Peach looked up and to the left to be eye to eye to Daisy. Startled, Daisy turned around and peered at the window out of nowhere..

..because she saw the silhouette of three infamous criminals in her friend's tear filled eyes.

It could have been a hallucination as well, but Daisy was wide awake and not in some kind of unfocused mind set. Everything seemed off, none of the pranksters were able to be seen.

"Wh-what do I doooo?" Peach whined, once again burying her face in her knees. "I don't know!"

"I don't know either, Peach, but it's late. I know you really miss your parents and all but this could all be some pre-coronation jitters you need to shake out. I promise everything will be alright, but we need to rise and shine up and early tomorrow, so we wouldn't want to keep Toadsworth waiting." She tapped the pink clad princess' back and jumped up, heading back towards the door. "And just think of Mario, I know him and his 'dashing smile' gets your mind off of things." She winked and was off.

Back to Present Time

Daisy and Rosalina stepped from the back and walked together, each holding bouquets of multicolored roses dyed in blue, green, and purple. Daisy's hair was curled slightly and tied back, contrary to Rosalina's straight hair that was left normal, her signature bang still covering one of her eyes.

Their color schemes remained the same as usual: Daisy wore a flowing orange dress with a 'V' shaped neckline and rhinestones on the top half, tying up in the back. Rosalina wore a sleeveless cerulean dress with a heart shaped neckline, it was short and had flowing fabric trailing behind it. She, of course, felt uncomfortable showing that amount of skin, but the dress was chosen eagerly by Peach and was tailored to perfection, so she couldn't refuse.

The duo separated at the podium and stood on the far ends, facing the center where the soon-to-be Queen began coming out, taking slow and long steps. She wore no crown, but silver earrings and necklaces to accentuate her fair skin. The dress was tight at the bodes, but the waist down held layers upon layers of tulle, alternating between green, blue, and purple. The middle of the dress was lined with rhinestones, and the colors matched perfectly with the jewels on the crown. Her shoulders bore two silver applets that held up a long black cape trailing behind her, representing the sorrow of the loss of the last Queen and King. To finish the whole look, she wore black gloves that reached halfway up her forearm. This dress and its accessories were passed down generation after generation, being altered for each Princess becoming Queen. 

Once Peach took her position behind the pedestal, Toadsworth began. "May everyone please take their seats, we are about to witness the very much loved Princess Peach becoming queen."

Peach wasn't completely focused, her mind bobbling and rambling itself on to random topics, from whether or not she ate too many star bits from Rosalina, to if she was smelling too minty after brushing her teeth four times, to contemplating her choice of painting Toadsworth's mustache blue when she was four. She mindlessly replied 'I will' to the statements, and Toadsworth's spiel went by rather quickly for her.

"... and will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in the council agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same?" Toadsworth inquired, holding a large book that read those words of wisdom. He had coronated Peach's parents and grandparents as well, this process wasn't necessarily new to him.

"I will." Peach gave out a sheepish smile and bowed down her head, according to the script.

"Citizens, loyal friends, family, ambassadors, and all here today for this ceremony, I hereby present your new ruler, Queen Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom." He gently placed the crown on her head and handed her the scepter, in which she displayed to the crowd while straightening up. Nerves pulsed through her veins, she couldn't do anything other than look around at the crowd smiling. 

She was instinctively looking for her parents in the crowd, and she has been ever since they disappeared. 

Approximately Six Years Ago (oh my another flashback)

The day she found out was at a work shop for young children rulers around the country. She had seen Daisy there and gotten better acquainted over the week that they stayed in the hotels together. Peach ended up explaining all of her problems, uplifting moments, and secrets. The two have been inseparable ever since.

At the end of the week, when there was a ceremony for parents to attend, Peach frantically looked around the congregation to see her parents, but they were nowhere to be found. After the whole production, Peach went to Daisy and told her how she couldn't find her mother and father; however, she was met by Toadsworth right after, and he was bearing bad news.

"Hello Toadsworth, I was wondering where Mother and Father went, I couldn't find them and Daisy was helping me look, and-"

"Say no more princess." His expressions were shameful, as if he blamed himself for their absence. "We must return home. Say your final goodbyes, I will explain everything on the way." He stroked her blonde lockes of hair in dejection. She complied and hugged Daisy, then waved her friends farewell, and they went home, no words said.

"I thought you said you would explain on our way home, not once we are here, Toadsworth. I am very nervous, please speak to me."

"Your parents are gone for good, Peach. And it is my fault."

"No, they can't be gone..." Peach began to hyperventillate and lose consciousness. "And you couldn't have done anything, could you?" Her mind was making spirals, going back and forth and sideways as she was trying to process what he just said. "Are they dead?"

"I don't know, and I couldn't save them, even though I tried." It was now Toadsworth's turn to break down, he knelt on the floor looking at their throne and shed tears. Meanwhile, Peach's vision was ambushed with black dots that expanded into a quiet darkness.

She has never approached the situation since, and does not plan to.

Back to the present once again

Peach finally thought everything through once again and beamed genuinely, causing the people to cheer even louder. She turned around and placed the scepter back in its place, seeing a grin from Rosalina and Daisy. The three of them walked to the men in the front row - our other guests of honor. "Ready for a great after party, m'lady?" Mario flirtatiously knelt down and kissed her hand affectionately. 

"Most definitely!" Queen Peach was excited for a night dedicated to her, and rejoiced as the pressure was off her shoulders. The six of them walked on to the main room and the festivities began. It replenished Peach's mind as she danced with Mario in the ballroom, she was the center of attention on her night.

Near them was another couple, the most unlikely one in the crowd. The cosmic princess and the criminal with a change of heart. They didn't speak much, as their awkward smiles did that much for them. Likewise to everyone, they waltzed around gracefully, and they had a splendid time. Their love for eachother was unspoken, as it needed no words. They just kept dancing as if there were no tomorrow, back and forth on the floor. He spun her around and around, they made their way all the way across the ballroom.

"Isn't the night splendid, Rosalina?"

"Most definitely, the skies are clear and the stars are glistening."

"I agree, would you like to go outside for fresh air with me?"

"Of course."

As we would all suspect, the two of them would have wanted to complete their intimate moment from a few days before, but they did not have the time to spend until now. Waluigi found this as the perfect opportunity. He slowly dipped her down and held her in his arms before gently leaning in, and Rosalina's eyes began to flutter shut as time came to a halt.

However, Rosalina soon felt something brush against her hip -- near the waist band where her wand was -- and she snapped back into reality as her eyes widened. She turned around and everything was normal, but she could have sworn something wasn't right.

"Is everything alright?" Waluigi was concerned for Rosalina, as she is usually calm and collected in any sort of scenario, but he was also irritated as this was the second time they were rudely interrupted.

"Am I the only person who believes that something is not necessarily right?"

"Huh? Is it my colonge or how I did my hair or-"

"No, of course not, I mean right now, I feel like someone almost obtained my wand, and it could have been so easy for them to take power from me in a second. I need to be more focused."

"Good luck with that..." Someone muttered from the bushes.

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	10. Chapter 10

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"Good luck with that..." She had shakily muttered to herself from the bushes as she came into realization of her mistakes. It may have seemed as if she were confident in this whole scheme, but she didn't believe so deep inside.

It wasn't going to work.

Ashley hadn't really thought anything through in its entirety, she thought the eternal power of possessing two wands, two different types of somewhat contradicting magics, would earn her the respect and friendships she desired. It wasn't until now that she realized that everything would backfire on her sooner or later, and this was only the beginning of it.

She thought she was a genius, devising a plan to obtain Rosalina's wand in order to gain a great power, it was unimaginable for any mortal. What she would do with this power? The limits were endless. It was all up to the other criminals to decide what to use it for. 

She had tried to steal the wand from Rosalina during her intimate moment with Waluigi just seconds ago, but thought again during the process. Here she was now, sitting within the greenery, panting in guilt after seeing the sorrow and dejection on Waluigi's face after yet another failed attempt to meet lips with his beloved. Ashley once again rethought which side she should have been on, but there weren't that many options from the start.

In the months leading up to the heist, she had found the troublesome villains in a camp far outside the walls, beyond the forests. After moving quite the distance from her parents, she felt nothing but loneliness, so she had to fill the hole in her heart with some kind of company. 

At first, she felt welcomed, she felt like she could be more outgoing as she felt more and more comfortable with them over time. It was now that she realized that what she was doing was wrong, only causing avoidable misery to others just for her own selfish reasons. 

Could she have snatched the wand right there? Easily. It was the very thought of two happy people experiencing love, something she wished she could eventually have, that stopped her movements. Why even dare to wish for it if she was going to seize it from someone else?

She couldn't stop the tears that flooded her eyes. She could have done something so terrible in the blink of an eye, but common sense halted her reflexes and she froze cold. 

I need to warn them, she thought to herself. They may not even trust me, but it's worth a shot to somehow make sure they know I want no harm anymore. I already eliminated my one close companion, Red. I can't risk anything else anymore, I can't make selfish decisions, I need to make the right decisions.

Ashley looked through the bushes at the well dressed couple making their way inside. "Come on, Rosie, maybe it would be best if we just-"

"WAIT!" Ashley screamed, the whole body of people outside looking at the girl covered in shrubs.

"Stay back!" Rosalina trembled as she aimed her wand towards the girl. The witch was capable of so much with the restriction of her wand being confiscated; she could only imagine what she would be able to do with no set backs this time. "I will not hesitate to -- What are you doing?" Rosalina gaped as Ashley set her wand down on the concrete and put her arms up in surrender.

"I'm here to warn you, no harm done. The others wanted me to attain your wand so I would harness unimaginable power and do as they will. All I wanted was their company and I ruined everything for the good guys while I was doing their bidding. I'm here to apologize too, but the others are going to hunt us down sooner or later."

"I don't know about this, you put me in paralysis!" Waluigi crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry man, I just thought about leaving someone here as a control, just in case if I did change my mind. I've been a bit uneasy the whole time, but now I know for sure that I want to join your side."

"Did you just try to take my wand, considering how you were in the bushes?" Rosalina questioned.

"I could have, but I thought twice." Ashley blew a stray hair out of her face.

"What is happening out here?" Peach rushed outside with Mario. "I heard screaming and acknowledged a crowd growing. And what are you doing here?" Peach sneered at the sight of Ashley. 

"Making amends. You can even take my wand again, I'm powerless without it." With caution, Peach obtained the wand from the ground and held it carefully.

"I believe her." Queen Peach stood firmly, wand in hand. "I really do, we all should know how protective she is over this wand. She has to be honest."

"Thank you, your Majesty." Ashley bowed her head down at the sight of royalty -- something contradictory to her behavior in the cells.

"Of course. May the celebration commence, with a new guest. Toadsworth, please take this wand to the safe." The Queen handed over the wand and made her way back into the ballroom, the classical music resuming its place.

Ashley was guided by another Toad to her own room, she needed all the sleep she could get.

Waluigi and Rosalina were seated down once again on a bench outside; the crowd was dispersed and they were once again the only ones here. "I want to take you somewhere, Princess." Waluigi intertwined his fingers with hers and rose up, leading her through an exit and through the small amount of village before reaching the illuminated castle walls. He lead her through one of the guard towers and to the top of the wall, sitting down and facing the kingdom, their feet hanging off the edge as she rested her head on his shoulders. It was a quiet and beautiful sight indeed, there was no way they would be disrupted yet again.

The moon was glowing in the skies and left a trail on the roads beneath them. The majority of the village was at the party, so the lack of lighting in the village itself only accentuated the brightness of the stars. It only reminded Rosalina of her home, of the lumas in the observatory that was still bound in the skies. As if Waluigi were able to sense her longing to return to the skies, he swung an arm around her and pulled her closer to him, savoring her warmth.

He was once one of the most evil villains in the Mushroom Kingdom, but was then a guest of honor at a coronation.  
(@sneakygoombagamer) A/N: I got that line from the comments!

Something like this had most likely never happened in the history of the kingdom, but there's a first for everything. 

"What's wrong?" The purple clad man asked. Rosalina wasn't sure how or why his attitude completely changed in the past weeks, but accepted it nonetheless. He had gone from self centered and ignorant to caring and gentle. He rubbed his hand on her arm up and down and looked down at her, their faces proximal.

"Now that I think of it, nothing is." Rosalina smiled and looked down, expecting what was about to come in. Before she knew it, a finger on her chin rose her face to meet his, and her lips met Waluigi's. She felt a blissful and sweet sensation as her heart melted. She had never known what the phrase actually felt like until this moment. His lips against hers were gentle and soft, and the whole thing was indescribable.

Right when they separated, fireworks began to shoot in the air as if it were on cue. They both exchanged cheeky smiles and scooted in closer to each other, watching the show of lights upon them.

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"If we want anything done at this point, we need to do it for ourselves. I knew this whole trusting the witch concept was no good." Bowser pouted to Wario.

"You're right, we need to march there ourselves. Get the army, we need to start prepping now. Get them when they least expect it, crack of dawn." Wario suggested, fiddling with a few coins in his palms as he was seated on a couch in the manor. "They'll all be too tired to figure out what's goin' on! Maybe we can even get my wimp brother to come back to us and join the group, just like the old times! If he says no, we can just push him into the big pipe in the forest!"

Bowser's actions halted as he stiffened, the idea of the pipe crossing his mind slowly and carefully as a plan was being crafted. "The infinipipe, you mean?" A sinister grin crawled up the koopa's face as he slowly turned his head towards his partner in crime.

"Yeah! That thing! We can throw 'em all down!"

"Most definitely." Bowser spoke in such a low, eerie voice, and Wario began feeling chills down his spine at the devilishness of his smirk.

"Err, boss?" Wario felt a drop of sweat trickle down his face at this sudden fear. "What are ya planning?"

"Let's just say that we will obtain the princess, and her throne." Bowser broke into an evil laugh and proceeded down the dark hallways of his idle castle.

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The next morning rose, the sun acting as a flower blossoming with the early lights. Little did the people of the kingdom know that it was the day revelations would be made, and that evil will come that much closer to total triumph.

"What a night!" Peach hummed to herself as she waltzed her way out to her balcony, overseeing the greenhouse and lake behind it. It glistened amongst the pink clouds that flourished upon the sky, tinting the world a beautiful shade of scarlet. Suddenly, while Peach was admiring the beautiful scene in front of her eyes, she heard a familiar scream in the distance, and saw none other than Daisy being carried away by the King Koopa himself towards the deadly Infinipipe. "This isn't good, this isn't good at all!" The queen frantically dashed out her room, still bear foot in nightwear, and down the flight of stairs before grabbing a coat and leaving the castle. During her rush, she managed to call out the guards to follow her.

"Oh darling! Where is my Queen Peach!" Bowser taunted, seeing Peach running towards him, adrenaline fueling each of her steps. "I see you brought some guests as well." Bowser snickered, and the pink clad queen looked behind her to see Rosalina, Waluigi, Ashley, and a few guards trailing her. They all began to feel a force upon them, drawing them towards the pipe, but continued to run until they finally reached Daisy and the villain who had a hold on her.

"Just go!" Daisy cried, but she then screamed as she was thrown a great distance towards the pipe, barely hanging on to the edges. Her fingers were aching as she was withstanding the great forces that were drawing her downwards towards the emptiness below her.

"Daisy, NO!" Peach sprinted the final distance towards the pipe and dove in right as she fell, hugging her sister like figure and bracing for whatever was to come for them. The two of them hit their heads the edge of the wall simultaneously, and began to see black spots as they fell unconscious within the pipe's depths.

"What have you done?" Rosalina yelled at the monster before them, beneath his cackling. She attempted to make a forcefield to retrieve the two other girls, but her target was completely missing. Waluigi and Ashley patted her as she fell to the floor, feeling helpless and in regret as her actions to save her friends were far too late.

"Listen girly, there has to be something we can do." Waluigi picked up the princess who was trembling in guilt.

"But I could have saved them! If only I were more focused and-"

"Rosie," Ashley cut her off, "Waluigi is right, we can find a way to get them out, we just need to think up a smart solution before any damage is done."

"Speaking about solutions, I've already made a phase one." Waluigi painfully glared at Bowser, who was still laughing about his partial success, and then back to the Princess he was glad to call his. "I'll see ya in a bit, girlie." He kissed her cheek and began to charge at the koopa.

"Waluigi, don't even think about- NO!" Rosalina screamed as Waluigi pushed Bowser into the infinipipe with his greatest strength, and they both fell into the depths.

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	11. Chapter 11

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"What are you doing, you betrayer." Bowser struggled as Waluigi was tackling him while falling through the pipe.

"Call me whatever ya want, but you're the one who's gonna pay!" They continued to fight until they realized they were no longer struggling, but they were floating in the abyss and slowing down. "Look at what you've done. Look at all these people trapped here! Including the darn princess and queen of the kingdom! Now what are ya gonna do now that you're down here to rot with 'em?"

"You imbecile, you began this, and now we, rather I, have to find a way out of here to claim the throne before anyone else does."

"You're wrong, if anything, I'm going to stop you before you can even step a foot in the castle." Waluigi crossed his arms, floating in the abyss.

"You and what army?" Bowser retorted.

"I'd ask you the same."

"Trust me, I've kept your friends very, very occupied."

"I doubt it." Waluigi huffed. "They'd defeat anything you throw at them."

"I beg to differ. They can't even face a few criminals who snuck out of jail."

"Where are we now?" This phrase led to Bowser's sigh of defeat. Waluigi looked around at his surroundings and saw that they were trapped in some sort of pink, cloudy, never ending void, falling in some direction. He assumed it must be because of the size of the pipe, so transportation would be much longer.

Or endless.

He prayed for himself to return back to society. Even though his brother and friends had betrayed him and left him behind, with the exception of Ashley, he knew that his special one would be waiting for him on the other side; he trusted her to that extent.

He looked up to see a speck of light coming from the beginning of the pipe, and looked back down to see almost nothing, except for the unconscious Peach and Daisy, Bowser attempting to swim himself back up, and two familiar adults who were in a deep, deep sleep.

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Meanwhile in the main land, swarms of goombas and other monsters began approaching. Rosalina switched her mindset to battle mode and began deflecting enemies and stunning them, and it wasn't necessarily a challenge for her, but it was time consuming and she was out numbered.

Toadsworth charged through the crowd with a small, yet long black box. He threw it over to Ashley, who immediately recognized it as her own wand. The two girls fought back to back with their wands, using their own individual powers and strengths to defeat the army. Rosalina would use force fields to deflect a few goombas at a time and return them to Bowser's castle, but Ashley would take a more vicious approach and summon bursts of energy to blow away the goombas in an aggressive manner. The girls were making progress, and had just about three fourths of the army to defeat as of now.

"How're ya holding up, princess?" Ashley managed to ask while battling the fleet.

"Just fine, and how about yourself?" She replied between breaths.

"Fantastic." She managed to respond after defeating a few more of the goombas and hammer bros ahead of them. The fights were heated enough, but only got worse as an infuriated Wario approached with two bobombs in hand. "Well lookie here at who decided to come on over Rosie!" Ashley nudged the princess behind her.

Rosalina turned around to see a capricious Wario acting upon his impulses and lighting the bobombs. "Time's a ticking, girly." He stared right into Rosalina's blue eyes, but she looked down immediately in dejection as he mocked the nick name that Waluigi addressed her by at first.

"Do not say that," Rosalina mumbled as she took the two bobombs in a force field and allowed them to explode within it.

"Turn that simmer to a low until I heat things up." He approached the princess too close for comfort; she felt his breath on her face as he smirked, only leaning closer.

"Move it fatty!" Ashley yelped as she targeted Wario with yet another blast of energy. He was pushed to his right by a few feet and found himself on the ground. Ashley stood idle holding her wand with both hands in front of her face, taking heavy breaths.

"Heh," Wario coughed as he heaved himself back up. "You're gonna regret doing that, witch girl." Sticking two of his fingers in his mouth, he whistled as a motorcycle being driven by Mona pulled up. He kept on repeating the word 'move!' as she accelerated away.

"Well I believe that was anticlimactic." Rosalina crossed her arms and looked at Ashley, who was sitting on the grass beneath her. "Are you alright, dear?"

"Yeah, it just hurts a bit, he was my friend ya know." Ashley was dumbfounded at her actions, which was understandable from the cosmic princess upon her.

"It is alright, he was not harmed. And look around you." The mobs had all followed the motorcycle and left the scene, leaving an easier job for the two magical beings who were fighting for the Mushroom Kingdom.

"I always knew their army had no minds of their own." Ashley worked her way back to her feet and looked at the trail of villains. "Let's work quickly before they come back."

Standing at the edge of the Infinipipe and grasping the side of it tightly to avoid being pulled in by the unmistakable force, Ashley and Rosalina looked down, but saw nothing but specks in the far distance. Rosalina shut her eyes tightly and pointed her wand downwards, linking her other arm to Ashley so she wouldn't lose her balance.

"I cannot create any force fields, they are much too far in for me to locate them." The two took a few steps back until they were steady.

"I have an idea, it's crazy but it might work." Ashley piped after a few moments. "Beard toad, can ya get us a rope, as long as you can find?" She asked Toadsworth who was behind a rock nearby. He nodded in reply and began to run back towards the kingdom.

"What are you getting at?" Rosalina vocalized.

"The one thing I can do right with this wand thing is blow things away, so I can use it as a rocket or something while we're in there to get us back out quickly."

"So what is the rope for?"

"To see if it works in there before we go for sure. You hold on to the rope and I'll take a hop in and see if it works in the abyss. If it does, we go."

"Okay, we will see soon." The princess looked back towards the pipe, longing to reunite with her love sooner than later.

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"What is happening to me?" Waluigi thought to himself as he noticed something odd about his whereabouts. "Am I getting... slower?" He attempted to wave his arm in front of him, proving his assumptions correct. "This isn't good, this isn't good at all..." He tried swimming and got nowhere, only slowing down more and more with every move he made. He frantically attempted to get himself out as he was slowing down exponentially, he at least needed to get to those two older figures in the distance. He did not want to be frozen in time, in whatever paradox this was, and tried in all his might just to get back to her, she was all he cared about. Drowsiness began to overcome him, black dots clouding his vision as he, too fell into a deeper sleep. His princess in blue was the only thing on his mind at this time.

Meanwhile, Ashley was crouching on the edge of the pipe, rope around her waist. She took a sharp breath and dove in, guards holding on to the rope for dear life, despite the major forces. After a certain amount of time, Ashley successfully propelled herself out of the pipe, but she felt strange as she was back in the real world.

"Princess, we don't have much time. When I was down there, something happened." Ashley's breaths were once again larger than usual, and fear captivated her eyes.

"What happened?" Rosalina pulled her aside and placed a palm on her back to soothe her.

"I was slowing down, and I didn't see anyone else close by, but we need to move now before it becomes impossible to find them."

Rosalina nodded in response and faced all of the guards. "We will both be entering the pipe, no one more, no one less. If we do not re enter the normal world within ten minutes, at least two of you are expected to use the rope method and retrieve us. If you cannot find us, return to the mainland and declare Toadsworth as the ruler until you are told otherwise. We need a fleet to also protect us if the King Koopa's army returns. Do I make myself clear?" The crowd bowed down to the cosmic princess, and she turned around, holding Ashley's forearm, and they both jumped.

Diving down and using Ashley's wand to propel them forth, they both remained attentive to their surroundings, trying their best to detect some form of life in the distance. "Rosie, look over there, it's the Queen and Daisy!" Relieved, Rosalina used her wand and successfully used the force field to retrieve the two girls, whose bodies were stiff and nearly frozen in space. Getting slower, the duo realized they were running out of time faster than they expected.

"There's Bowser, so Waluigi can't be much further back!" Ashley yelled.

"We need to get Bowser too." Rosalina started, looking towards the Koopa King.

"What are you talkin' about? He's dead weight, if we save him, he'd cause more drama!"

"It would be inhumane to leave him here to rot!" Rosalina retorted.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn ya." Ashley propelled the group towards Bowser, and found a way to get a hold of all three of the frozen beings with Rosalina's help, but also found herself slowing down. "No, no, no, no, no..." The witch muttered, looking around frantically for Waluigi before a distinguishable purple-clad person was seen in the distance, two other adults near it.

"Who are they?" Rosalina spoke warily, also noticing how her movements seemed to slow right before her eyes, as if she was delayed.

"I- I don't know 'em, but we should grab them just in case." Ashley's speech seemed to be slurred, they were slowing down even more. Rosalina was able to gather all six of the frozen beings in a force field, and Ashley began summoning her energy forces to propel them all out, but even if it felt like they moved a mile, the exit from this pipe seemed to only become further.

Time was deceiving them.

They didn't know how warped time was, or how fast it was actually passing, but their minds were processing their surroundings faster than they moved, and it was almost nauseating to Rosalina. She glanced at Waluigi, thinking about the great sacrifice he made, even if it wasn't the absolute best decision in the moment.

"We're..." Ashley spoke, speech incredibly slow, and took a breath, "almost..." her eyes seemed to have struggled to stay open, Rosalina felt helpless. She could move her forcefields towards her if she were stationary, but getting herself from one place to another, especially with passengers, would be a completely different science.

Time was deceiving her.

The slowing sensation flooded her system; she was the last of them to have her brain properly functioning, and she didn't even bother to think about how the paralyzed state she'd be in within the next few moments would feel.

Looking up and losing hope, she saw how close they were to the exit, how only a minute more could have gotten them out of this mess.

She looked down at Waluigi, she thought about how her life changed after meeting them, and she certainly didn't expect herself to be having these strong emotions for him after that first interview.

She looked back up, her vision fading.

That is, after she noticed an all too familiar red and green blur.

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"Mamma mia, what is this?" Mario encountered a goomba, a few more coming after it, and eventually a whole swarm behind two people on a motorcycle. "What is-a the meaning of all of this?"

"So ya don't getta save your girlies." Wario snarled.

"No need to be so fiesty, boss." Mona looked back at Wario. "They didn't do anything wrong!"

"Since when did you have say in this? You've just gotta drive me around!"

"Not anymore, you rat!" Mona took out the shiny key from the ignition and held it up in the broad daylight, its shimmer attracting the goomba's attention. She hooked the key on the back of his vest, and the army began circling around the villain, leaving him trapped. Wario began running away, dropping the key in the process, but that didn't stop the little creatures from swarming behind him. Mona was able to grab the key in time as the brothers boarded the motorcycle with her. She began driving towards the sight.

"So what exactly is-a the problem?" Luigi asked.

"The infinipipe. Bowser's plan was to throw Daisy in, and now a bunch of people are stuck, including Peachy. We need to find a way to free them!" Mona was genuinely worried; she may have been more acquainted with Wario and Bowser than the royalties, but that didn't stop her from taking pride and honor in the kingdom she lived in.

When they arrived near the sight, Toadsworth called out for the two royal plumbers and explained the predicament. "When Daisy was thrown in, Peach jumped after her, and then Waluigi pushed Bowser in, both falling in the process. Afterwards, Ashley and Rosalina went in to retrieve them and the latter named me ruler if they did not return, and I am losing hope. I was never ready for the throne directly. She even said not to go after her, but I feel like we should."

The boys looked at the toad with sympathy. "We will-a do everything we can." Luigi reassured him before making a plan. "Mario, I have an idea."

"Let's-a hear it!"

"We use this rope and tie ourselves to it, then find them and give the rope a tug as a signal for the guards to pull us back in. We can make this-a work!"

And so they dove in, dozens of guards holding the rope until they felt a tug, and began pulling the group of citizens back up. Dazed and confused, they woke up from their slumber, one by one.

Rosalina reunited with her love at last, he held her against him and protected her from anything else. They cherished each others presences so much that words weren't needed. Smiling, they blushed and met lips once again.

Meanwhile, Bowser was taken back to the remaining keeping areas in the castle for his wrongdoings, Ashley watched in amusement and laughed.

Peach and Daisy woke up together, and were more than ecstatic when they saw the two older figures they found within the pipes.

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	12. Epilogue

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"So, papa, what happened next?" The twelve year old asked the man sitting on the couch next to her, stroking her unruly brown locks of hair into place.

"Well, the Queen reunited with her momma and papa and lived a happily ever after in the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Oh please! There should have been at least some cool gossip. What about the royal wedding, or what happened to Bow-wow?"

"Heh," the man chuckled, returning his hand to his face to brush over the freshly grown scruff that began to form across his cheeks and chin. "I thought you'd probably ask that. You make quite the investigator, Celestia."

"Yeah!" She laughed before placing her full attention towards the man, looking up with her wide and innocent eyes. "Now tell me!"

"Queen Peach and Sir Mario had their wedding roughly a year after the whole incident. For the time in between, Mario had gotten Sir Joseph and Lady Cathleen's blessings and approvals to marry their daughter, and proposed to her during a dinner he had thrown with all of his friends. Your mother and I were there; that's where this picture was taken." Waluigi looked to his other side and gently brought the picture sitting on the coffee table to view. It was of him and his wife, looking into each others' eyes with the moonlight glistening behind them - reflecting on a lake. Luigi and Daisy had photobombed on the bottom left corner, making goofy faces. Mario, Peach, and Ashley were in the opposing corner, making cooky faces as well. The picture was black and white, but told a whole story in just one glance.

No matter what was happening around them, Waluigi and Rosalina had shared an unconditional love for one another.

Well, that, and they had a ton of nut-cases as friends.

"How about this picture?" Celestia had reached over to take another framed photo from the table, eyeing it carefully before looking up to her father for a response. 

"It was taken during my bachelor party, two weeks before my wedding with your momma." Waluigi began pointing out the different men who had posed with their cups of beer. "There's your Uncle Wario, and King Mario, and your Godfather Luigi. They look pretty young there, don't they?"

"Mhm! I noticed something about them looked funny!" She eyed the picture once again. "Is that Bow-wow?"

"Yes, it is. We became better friends again a year after the incident, and he helped me organize the engagement with your mother too!"

"How did you propose to momma?"

"She had come back from her starship that weekend, and while I was with her hanging out with King Mario, Queen Peach, Princess Daisy, and Luigi, your favorite Bow-wow, Uncle Wario, and Ashley had set up a path of rose petals in her observatory leading up to the terrace. There, the box with the ring I gave her was sitting."

"It's so pretty! I love the blue gem in the middle! It's like her eyes."

"That was what I was going for." Waluigi smiled to himself as a blush crept upon his cheeks. "She should be back around now. Are the cookies ready?"

"Yup! I kept them on the counter to cool down!"

Soon enough, the trees around the apartment began to blow, and a loud bang was heard outside. Both Waluigi and Celestia knew what it meant - that Rosalina's observatory had just landed.

"MOMMA!" Celestia yelped as she dashed outside towards her mother and the lumas, grabbing a plate of freshly baked cookies on her way out. "Momma! Welcome home! I made you some starbit cookies, your favorite!"

"Hello, Celestia, and thank you." Rosalina took in a deep breath of air - smelling the ocean breeze that lingered around her. She embraced her daughter for a minute or two, until Waluigi walked outside with Wario, Mona, and Ashley.

"Welcome back, sweetie." Waluigi warmly smiled and held out his arms. In return, Rosalina picked up Celestia with one arm and hugged Waluigi back with the other.

"Yeah yeah, cut the cutes." Ashley broke up the family and smirked. "Dinner's gonna be ready in Peach's castle sooner or later, we should start heading back over."

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"Well, today marks fifteen years since the return of Peach's parents, fifteen years and a day since she became Queen, and fifteen years since the beginning of us all coming together as one large group of friends. Although we have lost some people - and may Bowser Junior be found one day - we have also gained our wonderful Prince Gabriel, Celestia, and soon Blossom. So let us all raise our glasses to our uniting, and cheers to fifteen years!" Mario had raised his glass and tapped it against Peach's, and everyone did the same with each other.

At the head of the table sat King Mario, and to his right was Queen Peach. Next to her sat her two parents, Bowser, and Ashley. To the left of Mario, and across the ovular table was Luigi, Daisy, Mona, Wario, Waluigi, and Rosalina was at the other head. Celestia sat with Gabriel, who was Peach and Mario's fourteen year old son. Peach was due to give birth to her daughter, Blossom, in about two months. Daisy and Luigi, however, decided not to have children.

Bowser Junior had mysteriously disappeared a year or two after the whole incident, and no one knows where he could have gone. This led to Bowser reuniting with Waluigi and Wario, and eventually rejoining the group of "good guys" at the table this day.

Luigi and Daisy were still engaged, but never married. Daisy had always gone by the principle that marriage brings too much baggage and commitment, whilst engagement still gave the couple freedom without shackles. After nine years of being engaged, they still wish to keep it that way.

Wario and Mona, for as long as anyone would remember, are still in the boyfriend-girlfriend stage, and have been keeping their sweet time. However, they have been on and off for the past fifteen years, god knows why.

After the several courses of dinner and dessert were served and done for, the entire group migrated outside. It was already dusk, and the moon was shining down on them as if it were the heavens above. A small jazz ensemble began playing music on the patio, and the adults were all socializing while the children were running around the grassy plain.

"Well, how is the pregnancy, Peach?" Rosalina walked up to the other woman, a glass of peach tea in hand.

"Super well! After Gabriel, I am almost used to this! I've felt more alive than ever!"

"So I see pregnancy makes you giddy?"

"I guess you could put it that way. I just can't wait until I have a baby girl crawling around the castle."

"How do you know for sure that it would be a girl?"

"I've been asking the same thing for months." Mario walked up from behind the two ladies and wrapped an arm gently around Peach's frame. "She just 'feels' it." He laughed, and was soon joined by Rosalina.

"Hey! It's true!" Peach pouted. "I just know it's going to be a girl, my little Blossom."

"I bet it's going to be a boy. If it is, I'll name him Mario Junior!"

"I think not! Blossom will be the name of our little girl!" Mario and Peach continued bickering as Rosalina stepped away slowly.

"They are quite the pair, aren't they?" Cathleen put an arm on Rosalina's shoulder as she approached.

"Indeed. Even if they found each other on the most unlikely way, it is still a treat to see how much love they have for each other." Rosalina smiled.

"Same goes for you and your special one. Waluigi is quite the trickster and the fact you two make the perfect couple nonetheless never ceases to impress me."

"You as well. Joseph is a goofy one and you are so reserved and polite. They do say opposites attract though."

"They definitely do. I need to go tend to the festivities, but enjoy your time here before you leave." Cathleen winked and walked away. She, like Rosalina, was tall and thin, wearing a white medieval-style dress with thin glasses adorning her face. Her hair was thinking and blonde, gently flowing down to just below her shoulders, and a very quaint, silver crown sat stop her head.

Her husband, Joseph, was blonde as well, and his hair was curly and groomed short. He also sported a mustache and round glasses. He was the same height as Cathleen - although, he would always try to object that he was taller - and wore an official suit with a sash and mushroom pin. Like his wife, he also wore a matching silver crown.

Meanwhile, a fourteen year old Gabriel and twelve year old Celestia were still chasing the Lumas that were hovering around the field. Soon enough, Celestia tripped, leading to Gabriel falling next to her in a domino effect.

"Gosh darn," he chuckled, "Celestia, you're one clutz for sure."

"Pfft," she blew a raspberry, "Princess Gabriel, you're what I call Rude Royalty."

"I am the Prince of the Mushroom Kingdom, not Princess, sir."

"Excuse me, I am Miss to you, not sir. I am clearly female." She crossed her arms.

"You'll be my Missis soon enough." Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows.

"Gross, you're flirty like your dad."

"I consider that a compliment."

"Ew." She giggled again, and Gabriel placed an arm around her shoulder as they were laying in the grass.

"Hey, Rosalina." Nearby, Waluigi tapped his wife's shoulder. "Seems like Gabriel and Celestia are hitting it off, right?"

"Please, they are still young. Our daughter is only twelve orbits old!"

"You're never too young for love, Rosie." He kissed her cheek. "And you're never too old either." They slowly turned to each other and looked into their eyes, the world around them seemingly disappearing, the jazz music stopping.

Waluigi slid a hand on Rosalina's face and leaned in for a long, yet passionate kiss.

"Break it up, there are children present!" Wario pulled the couple apart, and the three of them began laughing all together.

"Go away, Wario, let me enjoy my romance." Waluigi pushed away his brother in a joking manner.

"Fine, but you haven't seen the last of me!" He snickered.

The couple found their way to a couch on the patio and sat adjacent to each other, hand in hand. Rosalina leant her head atop of Waluigi's shoulder and let out a breath of relief.

"We never get a break, do we?" Waluigi sighed.

"No, but I would never have it any other way."

END.


End file.
